A  CRUSADE  OF 

■  :     ■  •  :;;■.!' HOOti 


AUGUSTUS   FIELD  BEARD 


JUN241910      *t 


*v  *? °^uSBtus  Field,   183 
Beard,    *u^ 

1934 '    **  of  brotherhood 
A  crusade  ot 


A   CRUSADE   OF   BROTHERHOOD 

A    HISTORY    OF    THE    AMERICAN 
MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 


Secretary  George  Whipple,  D.D. 


(*     JUN24  1910      i 
A  V  f      t ^  ^ 

CRUSADE  OF  BROTHERHOOD 

A    HISTORY    OF   THE    AMERICAN 
MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 


BY 


AUGUSTUS   FIELD   BEARD 

AUTHOR   OF   "  THE   STORY   OF   JOHN    FREDERIC   OBERLIN " 


BOSTON 
THE  PILGRIM  PRESS 

NEW  YORK     •     CHICAGO 


Copyright,  iqoq 
By  Augustus  F.  Beard 


THE    UNIVERSITY    PRESS,    CAMBRIDGE,    U.S.A. 


PREFACE 

THE  significant  facts  of  the  American 
Missionary  Association  history  are  scat- 
tered here  and  there  in  our  American 
Missionary  magazine  through  sixty  volumes.  I 
have  quoted  freely  what  has  seemed  to  me  to 
be  useful  for  correct  appreciation  of  passing 
events,  and  have  endeavored  to  exclude  all  else. 
My  purpose  has  been  to  entrench  these  facts 
in  the  reasons  of  the  great  movements  for  which 
they  stand;  to  show  something  of  the  evolu- 
tionary processes  by  which  they  came  to  be,  and 
to  take  on  their  distinctive  characteristics.  I 
have  endeavored  to  keep  close  to  the  principles 
and  policies  which  appear  in  our  various  records, 
and  not  to  advance  personal  theories  of  my  own. 
The  concrete  facts  and  figures  which  are 
repetitiously  —  and  necessarily  repetitiously  — 
set  forth  in  our  magazine,  The  American  Mis- 
sionary, from  month  to  month  through  sixty 
years  have  seemed  to  me  to  be  the  less  impor- 
tant part  of  the  story.  The  passing  years  have 
brought  many  of  the  same  experiences  to  view 


PREFACE 

as  they  are  in  all  normal  and  healthful  life.  One 
year  is  much  like  another  when  things  go  well. 
The  thought  of  the  builders  and  the  influences 
of  their  thought,  their  faith  and  patience,  their 
consecration  to  their  convictions,  and  how  all  this 
has  worked  itself  out  with  struggle  and  trial, 
through  misapprehensions  and  oppositions,  ap- 
pears to  be  the  main  thing  to  be  remembered. 
The  resolute  men  who  organized  and  carried  on 
the  Association,  who  did  the  things  which  have 
been  done,  are  the  real  history. 

As  I  have  sought  to  recognize  this,  it  has 
brought  me  to  relate  incidentally  rather  than 
formally  the  principles  of  the  Association,  its 
theories  and  methods  of  administration,  edu- 
cation and  evangelization,  that  they  may  vindi- 
cate themselves  in  the  visible  results  which  have 
been  accomplished,  e.  g.,  in  educational  institu- 
tions and  churches  established  and  carried  on,  in 
the  spirit  in  which  the  work  has  been  done,  and 
in  the  esteem  and  approbation  of  leading  South- 
ern educators  like  Curry,  Haygood,  Galloway, 
and  others,  who  have  given  the  testimonies  of 
personal  knowledge. 

Finally,  I  have  sought  to  give  a  brief  and 
comprehensive  statement  of  present  conditions 
and  the  outlook  of  to-day.  In  this  I  have 
placed  the  stress  —  where  I  think  it  belongs  — 

vi 


PREFACE 

upon  our  great  work  and  its  challenging  prob- 
lems during  the  four  decades  of  our  service 
among  and  for  the  negro  people,  without  neg- 
lecting to  present  in  their  proper  proportion  and 
relation  the  other  features  of  our  endeavors. 

Before  I  began  my  researches  I  thought  there 
would  be  more  incident  and  story  than  I  have 
been  able  to  find.  The  early  days  were  serious 
even  to  sadness,  with  work  done  under  clouds, 
as  in  all  initial  reforms.  The  workers  in  the 
mission  fields  appear  to  have  had  little  time  or 
inclination  except  for  the  constant  appeal  and 
pressure  in  behalf  of  the  work.  They  were  too 
hard-pressed,  too  sensitive  to  the  sorrows  about 
them,  and  too  earnest  to  see  the  humors  of  the 
situation.  The  later  times,  happier  in  a  larger 
recognition,  have  yet  been  one  constant  struggle 
to  keep  up  with  the  demands  of  the  work  on  short 
allowances,  and  too  strenuous  and  severe  both 
in  office  and  field  for  much  romantic  interest ;  but 
the  whole  of  it  taken  together  is  nevertheless  a 
story  of  the  "  faith  and  patience  which  inherit 
the  promises,"  and  of  God's  gracious  providences 
which  it  were  not  well  to  leave  unrecorded. 

Augustus  Field  Beard. 


vu 


CONTENTS 

Page 
I.   Conditions  which  Created  the  American  Mis- 
sionary Association i 

II.    Foreign  Missions  —  In  Africa 33 

III.  Foreign  Missions  —  In  Various  Places    ...  49 

IV.  Mission  among  the  North  American  Indians  .  63 
V.   The  Home  Department  —  West  and  South     .  95 

VI.   "The  Morning  Cometh,  and  also  the  Night"  105 

VII.  Schools  Following  the  Armies 119 

VIII.  Policy  and  Development 143 

IX.   Significant  Years 165 

X.    Concentration 195 

XI.   Welcome  and  Unwelcome 217 

XII.    New  Fields  and  Old 235 

XIII.  Experience  and  Justification 249 

XIV.  Survey  and  Outlook 271 

XV.    In  Northern  Alaska,  Porto  Rico,  Hawaii  .     .  295 

XVI.   "The  Just  shall  Live  by  Faith" 311 


Index -,2* 


IX 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 
Secretary  George  Whipple,  D.D Frontispiece 

Rev.  Josiah  Brewer 40 

Rev.  Dan  B.  Bradley,  M.D.,  Missionary  to  Siam    ...  56 

Normal  Training  School,  Santee,  Neb 72 

T.  L.  Riggs,  LL.D 74 

A.  L.  Riggs,  D.D 82 

J.  A.  R.  Rogers,  D.D 102 

General  S.  C.  Armstrong  at  the  age  of  thirty-three     .     .  126 

Hon.  William  Jackson 128 

Hon.  Lawrence  Brainard 132 

Edward  N.  Kirk,  D.D 134 

Arthur  Tappan 138 

First  Buildings,  Fisk   University,  1866,  former  Military 

Barracks 152 

Erastus  M.  Cravath,  D.D 154 

General  Clinton  B.  Fisk 156 

Jubilee  Hall,  Fisk  University,  Nashville,  Tenn.      .     .     .  158 

Theological  and  Livingston  Halls,  Fisk  University     .     .  160 

General  O.  O.  Howard 172 

Foster  Hall  and  De Forest  Chapel,  Talladega,  Ala.     .     .  176 

Foster  Hall  and  Campus,  Talladega,  Ala 178 

Chapel,  Tougaloo  University,  Miss 1S6 

Beard  Hall,  Tougaloo  University,  Miss 186 

Straight  University,  New  Orleans,  La 194 

xi 


ILLUSTRATIONS 

Page 

Allen  Hall,  Tillotson  College,  Austin,  Texas      .     .     .     .  216 

Dodge  Hall,  Pleasant  Hill  Academy,  Tenn 240 

Avery  Normal  Institute,  Charleston,  S.  C 242 

Secretary  James  Powell,  D.D 248 

Daniel  Hand 258 

Secretary  M.  E.  Strieby,  D.D 268 

Girls'  Dormitory,  Piedmont  College,  Demorest,  Ga.  .     .  274 

Beard  Hall,  Joseph  K.  Brick  School,  Enfield,  N.  C.  .     .  278 

Chapel,  Joseph  K.  Brick  School,  Enfield,  N.  C.    .     .     .  278 

Lincoln  Academy,  King's  Mountain,  N.  C 280 

Joseph  E.  Roy,  D.D 320 


Xll 


CONDITIONS  WHICH  CREATED  THE 

AMERICAN    MISSIONARY 

ASSOCIATION 


Two  germinant  civilizations.  —  New  England  and  Vir- 
ginia. —  The  introduction  of  slavery.  —  Its  decrease  in 
New  England  and  increase  in  the  South.  —  Its  abolition 
in  Vermont,  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania,  Connecticut, 
Rhode  Island,  New  Hampshire,  New  York,  and  New 
Jersey.  —  The  conscience  of  both  sections  against  it.  — 
Testimony  of  Thomas  Jefferson.  —  The  action  of  the 
general  government  to  prohibit  slavery  in  the  Northwest 
Territory  and  its  failure.  —  Sentiments  of  Washington, 
Hamilton,  Patrick  Henry,  Madison.  —  The  invention  of 
the  cotton-gin  and  great  increase  of  profits  by  slave  labor. 

—  Consequent  efforts  for  the  perpetuation  of  slavery.  — 
Local  antislavery  societies  formed.  —  Lundy  and  Garri- 
son :  their  methods.  —  Alliance  of  New  England  com- 
merce and  Southern  slavery.  —  Agitation  in  the  North. 

—  Experience  of  Prudence  Crandall  and  others.  —  New 
National  Antislavery  Society  formed  and  determination 
to  hold  fast  to  the  churches.  —  The  widening  movement 
against  slavery.  —  Silence  of  the  churches  and  religious 
societies.  —  The  African  captives  in  1839.  —  Trial  and 
freedom.  —  Return  to  Africa.  —  The  Mendi  Mission.  — 
Organization  of  the  Association  in  1846  as  a  national 
society.  —  Subsequent  absorption  of  the  local  antislavery 
societies. 


THE  AMERICAN 
MISSIONARY    ASSOCIATION 


CONDITIONS    WHICH    CREATED    THE 
AMERICAN   MISSIONARY 
ASSOCIATION 

THE  "  irrepressible  conflict  "  which  called 
The  American  Missionary  Association 
into  life  and  work  was  an  evolution  the 
beginnings  of  which  are  traceable  in  the  first 
settlements  of  the  country.  In  these,  above  all 
other  immigrations,  two  distinct  types  were  de- 
veloped which  greatly  determined,  not  only  their 
own  future  history,  but  also  that  of  the  nation. 
These  were  of  the  North  and  the  South.  Each 
section  with  its  own  heredity  made  its  own  en- 
vironment, and  as  each  developed  after  its  kind 
the  original  stamp  was  distinct  and  clear.  The 
United  Colonies  of  New  England  accentuated 
the  motives  and  institutions  of  a  pure  democracy. 
The  Virginia  colonists  lived  on  their  own  estates 
and   maintained   the  life  of   the   cavaliers.     A 

3 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

rugged  climate  and  a  not  too  friendly  soil  called 
the  New  England  settlers  to  severe  personal  labor 
in  their  conquest  of  the  wilderness.  The  Vir- 
ginia colony  under  more  congenial  skies  took  on 
an  aristocratic  and  easier  form  of  social  life. 
Each  colony  was  strong  enough  to  include  in 
its  distinctive  characteristics  other  immigrations, 
but  these  two  stand  out  in  emphasis. 

These  original  differences  were  intensified  by 
the  introduction  of  slavery.  The  iniquity  of 
human  bondage  was  not  realized  in  that  day  suf- 
ficiently to  prevent  its  adoption  North  as  well 
as  South.  That  the  Christian  conscience  of  the 
New  England  colonies  with  their  theories  and 
modes  of  life  should  follow  the  example  of  the 
Virginia  colony  is  not  easy  to  explain.  There 
was  no  demand  for  slaves  in  the  Northern  colo- 
nies, nor  was  slavery  in  harmony  with  their  life 
and  social  conditions.  That  it  had  feeble  hold 
and  comparatively  short  existence  in  New  Eng- 
land does  not  wash  away  the  stain  upon  its  his- 
tory. On  the  other  hand,  the  social  order  of  the 
South  —  its  ideas  of  class  privilege  —  the  climate, 
and  the  agricultural  industries,  were  such  as  to 
favor  slavery,  so  that  after  one  hundred  and  fifty 
years,  the  six  hundred  and  seventy-five  thousand 
slaves  were  chiefly  in  the  South.  This  is  not  to 
assert  that  one  section  was  more  righteous  in 

4 


CONDITIONS  WHICH   CREATED 

principle  in  this  respect  at  this  time  than  the 
other. 

But  the  social  conscience  both  in  the  North 
and  in  the  South  had  begun  to  awaken  to  the 
iniquity  of  the  system.  Oglethorpe,  the  founder 
of  Georgia,  in  1733  bore  earnest  testimony 
against  it,  declaring  that  "  slavery  is  against  the 
gospel  as  well  as  against  the  fundamental  law 
of  England."  As  trustee  he  refused  to  make  a 
law  permitting  "  such  a  horrid  crime."  He  found, 
however,  the  greed  of  the  people  more  alive  than 
their  consciences,  and  the  founder  of  Georgia, 
discouraged,  gave  up  the  battle  and  returned  to 
England. 

As  time  passed,  the  convictions  of  the  thought- 
ful increased.  On  the  30th  of  October,  1774, 
twelve  colonies,  which  met  for  relief  from  British 
oppression,  feeling  the  incongruity  of  their  com- 
plaints as  contrasted  with  their  conduct  towards 
the  oppressed  at  their  own  doors,  passed  unani- 
mously the  following  declarations,  solemnly 
binding  themselves  and  their  constituents :  "  We 
will  neither  import  nor  purchase  any  slave  im- 
ported after  the  first  day  of  December  next,  after 
which  time  we  will  wholly  discontinue  the  slave 
trade,  and  will  neither  be  concerned  in  it  our- 
selves nor  will  we  hire  vessels,  nor  sell  our 
commodities  or  manufactures  to  those  who  are 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

concerned  in  it."  Agreeably  to  this  all  the  colo- 
nies closed  their  ports  against  the  foreign  slave- 
trade,  and  abolished  it  before  the  date  of  the  Con- 
stitution. Antislavery  societies  were  formed  in 
the  Southern  colonies  and  thousands  of  slaves 
were  emancipated  in  Virginia  alone. 

With  the  war  for  independent  nationality  came 
a  new  discussion  of  human  rights.  It  was  im- 
possible to  hold  the  logic  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  and  fail  to  see  that  the  institution 
of  slavery  was  a  gross  contradiction  of  it,  and 
a  violation  of  the  very  fundamental  claims  of  the 
colonies  for  their  freedom  from  oppression.  John 
Adams  declared  his  abhorrence  of  the  practise  of 
slaveholding,  and  said  that  "  every  measure  of 
prudence  ought  to  be  assumed  for  the  eventual 
total  extirpation  of  slavery  from  the  United 
States."  A  society  in  favor  of  its  abolition  had 
Benjamin  Franklin  for  president  and  Benjamin 
Rush  for  secretary.  Similar  associations  were 
founded  about  the  same  time  in  different  parts 
of  the  United  States.  The  Northern  states  in 
quick  succession  abolished  slavery:  Vermont  in 
1777,  Pennsylvania  and  Massachusetts  in  1780, 
Connecticut,  Rhode  Island,  and  New  Hampshire 
in  1784,  New  York  in  1799,  and  New  Jersey  in 
1804.  Meanwhile  the  general  government,  by 
the  ordinance   of   1787,   undertook  to   stop  the 

6 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

future  extension  of  slavery,  prohibiting  it  in  its 
whole  Northwest  Territory. 

Perhaps  the  strongest  protests  came  from  the 
South,  where  the  evils  of  slavery  were  more 
manifest.  The  wisest  political  foresight  of  the 
South  predicted  the  inevitable  consequences  of  the 
wrong.  Thomas  Jefferson,  in  1774,  wrote,  "  The 
abolition  of  slavery  is  the  great  object  of  desire 
in  the  colonies."  He  presided  at  the  Fairfax 
County  convention  in  1774,  and  took  part  in  fram- 
ing the  resolves  then  adopted  which  expressed 
"  most  earnest  wishes  to  see  an  entire  stop  put 
to  such  a  wicked,  cruel,  and  unnatural  trade." 
He  could  not  have  used  stronger  words  when 
he  said :  — 

What  an  incomprehensible  machine  is  man  who  can 
endure  toil,  famine,  stripes,  imprisonment,  and  death 
itself,  in  vindication  of  his  own  liberty,  and  the  next 
moment  be  deaf  to  all  those  motives  whose  power  sup- 
ported him  through  his  trial,  and  afflict  on  his  fellow 
men  a  bondage,  one  hour  of  which  is  fraught  with 
more  misery  than  ages  of  that  which  he  rose  in  rebel- 
lion to  oppose.  .  .  . 

When  the  measure  of  their  tears  shall  be  full  — 
when  their  groans  shall  have  involved  heaven  itself 
in  darkness,  doubtless  a  God  of  justice  will  awaken 
to  their  distress,  and  by  diffusing  light  and  liberty 
among  their  oppressors,  or  at  length  by  his  exterminat- 
ing thunder,  manifest  his  attention  to  the  things  of  this 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

world,  and  show  that  they  are  not  left  to  the  guidance 
of  a  blind  fatality. 

In  1784  he  reported  in  Congress  an  ordinance 
that  provided  for  the  prohibition  of  slavery  after 
the  year  1800  in  all  the  Western  country  above 
the  parallel  of  thirty-one  degrees,  north  latitude. 
The  proposed  interdiction  applied  to  what  after- 
wards became  the  states  of  Alabama,  Mississippi, 
Tennessee,  and  Kentucky  as  well  as  the  North- 
west Territory.  This  was  lost  by  a  single  vote. 
Jefferson,  two  years  later,  wrote :  "  The  voice  of 
a  single  individual  would  have  prevented  the 
abominable  crime.  Heaven  will  not  always  be 
silent :  the  friend  to  the  rights  of  human  nature 
will  in  the  end  prevail."  Washington  also  voiced 
the  feeling  and  the  conscience  of  multitudes  of 
Southern  people  when  he  repeatedly  urged  upon 
the  legislature  of  his  state  the  necessity  of  taking 
measures  which  would  result  in  the  gradual  ex- 
tinction of  slavery.  Madison,  Hamilton,  and 
Patrick  Henry  all  reprobated  the  system.  There 
was  no  question  with  these  leaders  of  opinion  as 
to  the  wrong  of  slavery  and  the  evils  consequent 
upon  it.  Madison  in  the  Constitutional  Conven- 
tion earnestly  opposed  the  section  which  delayed 
the  prohibition  of  slave-trade  until  1808. 

It  was  not  merely  that  the  profits  of  unrequited 
labor  outweighed  the  consciences  of  those  who 

8 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

wished  to  see  slavery  abolished,  and  who  saw  the 
wickedness  of  buying  and  selling  men  and  women 
as  cattle.  The  trend  of  Southern  civilization,  the 
aristocratic  social  state  which  in  itself  made  for 
class  privilege,  and  the  feudal  theories  of  life 
added  strength  to  the  commercial  selfishness 
sufficient  to  resist  the  promptings  of  the  Chris- 
tian conscience  and  the  prophetic  appeals  of 
statesmen. 

The  invention  of  the  cotton-gin  in  1793,  which 
fostered  slave  labor,  found  in  the  Southern  theo- 
ries of  civilization  a  good  soil  for  the  perpetua- 
tion of  the  system  that  Jefferson  had  charac- 
terized as  "  an  abominable  crime  against  human 
nature."  History  does  not  show  many  more 
striking  expositions  of  the  apostle's  words  to 
Timothy,  "  For  the  love  of  money  is  the  root  of 
all  evil:  which  while  some  coveted  after,  they 
have  erred  from  the  faith,  and  pierced  themselves 
through  with  many  sorrows."  What  had  prom- 
ised to  be  a  general  consent,  that  slavery  was  too 
evident  a  wrong  to  be  tolerated,  was  followed  — 
when  it  was  found  to  enrich  slaveholders  —  by 
a  most  servile  acceptance  of  its  continuance  and 
even  by  determined  efforts  for  its  extension. 
Greed  for  the  ungodly  profits  appealed  not  only 
to  Southern  planters;  those  engaged  in  North- 
ern  commerce   alike   bandaged    their   ears   and 

9 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

closed  their  eyes  to  what  but  a  little  time  previous 
had  been  a  confessed  wickedness  against  hu- 
manity, to  be  forsaken  as  soon  as  possible. 

The  moral  and  humane  expectations  of  the 
Fathers  were  thus  outweighed  in  the  scales  by 
slavery,  and  slave-breeding  became  "  no  evil,  no 
scourge,  but  a  great  religious  and  moral  bless- 
ing." Meanwhile,  Southern  assertion  and  North- 
ern acquiescence  had  forced  into  the  Constitu- 
tion a  toleration  of  the  slave-trade  until  the  year 
1808,  and  had  increased  the  Southern  vote  by 
counting  each  slave  as  three-fifths  of  a  voter. 
The  slave  was  thus  "  three-fifths  a  man  and  two- 
fifths  a  chattel."  This  raised  slavery  to  its  throne, 
and  gave  it  the  practical  control  of  the  govern- 
ment. Thus  entrenched  it  held  the  country  firmly 
in  hand. 

The  first  evidence  of  its  political  purpose  and 
power  —  after  thirty  years  when  the  attention 
of  the  country  was  upon  other  absorbing  inter- 
ests —  was  in  1820,  when  the  question  came  upon 
the  admission  of  another  slave  state.  Missouri 
and  Maine  were  applying  for  statehood  at  the 
same  time.  The  price  for  the  admission  of  Maine 
was  that  of  Missouri  as  a  slave  state.  There 
were  long  debates  in  Congress,  and  slavery  won, 
but  with  the  proviso  that  it  should  never  extend 
north  of  thirty-six  thirty  degrees. 

10 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

Out  of  this  debate  from  this  time  onward  a 
determined  spirit  of  opposition  to  slavery  arose 
in  the  North.  It  was  too  deep-seated  to  accept  the 
current  apologies  for  the  wrong  on  the  ground 
that  the  responsibility  was  upon  the  South  alone, 
and  that  the  North  had  no  right  to  disturb  what 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States  accepted 
and  was  pledged  to  protect. 

The  pioneer  of  this  opposition  was  Benjamin 
Lundy,  of  Quaker  origin,  born  in  New  Jersey 
in  1789.  He  removed  when  nineteen  years  of 
age  to  Virginia,  where  his  attention  was  first 
directed  to  the  subject  of  slavery.  In  181 5  he 
originated  in  Virginia  an  antislavery  associa- 
tion, called  the  "  Union  Humane  Society."  He 
also  formed  antislavery  societies  in  North  Caro- 
lina which  together  numbered  three  thousand 
members.  In  1828,  visiting  the  Eastern  states, 
he  made  the  acquaintance  of  Arthur  and  Lewis 
Tappan  and  other  prominent  antislavery  men. 
Meeting  William  Lloyd  Garrison  in  Boston,  he 
found  a  coadjutor  sympathetic  in  purpose,  but, 
as  it  proved,  not  in  methods.  Lundy,  who  wrote 
and  spoke  "  the  truth  in  love,"  and  with  such  a 
spirit  that  he  was  tolerated  in  the  slave  states, 
secured  Garrison's  cooperation  in  publishing  in 
Baltimore  his  paper,  The  Genius  of  Universal 
Emancipation.     While  Lundy  traveled  and  lec- 

11 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

tured,  the  Genius  in  the  hands  of  Garrison  at 
once  took  on  his  own  attitude  and  methods  of 
bitter  denunciation,  for  which  he  was  soon  ar- 
rested and  imprisoned.  Arthur  Tappan,  a  mer- 
chant of  New  York,  while  he  did  not  approve 
of  Garrison's  methods,  believed  in  his  sincerity 
and  his  devotion  to  the  oppressed,  and  paid  the 
fine  which  released  him.  The  Genius  of  Lundy 
was  ruined  by  the  methods  of  Garrison,  who  re- 
turned to  Boston  with  his  heart  aflame,  and  at 
once  started  The  Liberator,  his  partner,  Isaac 
Knapp,  and  he  being  editors,  workmen,  composi- 
tors, pressmen,  and  all  hands.  In  his  salutatory 
Garrison  wrote,  "  On  the  subject  I  do  not  wish 
to  speak  with  moderation ; "  and  he  never  did. 
He  would  have  served  his  cause  better  if  he  had. 
Garrison's  contribution  to  antislavery  was  in  the 
truth  he  uttered  in  spite  of  the  bitterness  of  his 
temper.  Lundy  was  wiser.  As  the  opposition 
to  slavery  grew,  the  South  and  its  Northern 
partizans  made  desperate  efforts  to  prevent  the 
expression  of  opinion  respecting  it,  while  the 
churches  in  the  slave  states  "  searched  the  Scrip- 
tures "  to  prove  that  human  bondage  was  divinely 
appointed  and  was  morally  right.  The  churches 
in  the  North  were  mostly  silent.  They  certainly 
regarded  slavery  as  a  great  wrong  and  mourned 
its  existence,  but  they  felt  estopped  by  the  con- 

12 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

stitutional  rights  of  independent  states  from  doing 
more  than  wishing  that  it  did  not  exist.  To  go 
beyond  this  was  like  meddling  with  the  affairs 
of  a  foreign  country. 

Not  all  in  the  North,  however,  went  as  far  as 
this  in  their  attitude  toward  slavery.  The  alli- 
ance of  New  England  commerce  with  Southern 
slavery  greed  corrupted  the  conscience  of  North- 
ern society  and  succeeded  in  making  the  caste 
of  color  about  as  rigid  and  narrow  in  the  North 
as  Southern  assertion  could  demand;  this,  too, 
in  communities  where  it  would  be  least  expected, 
and  which  now  regret  that  the  unhappy  facts 
of  history  cannot  be  expunged.  There  are  liv- 
ing to-day  those  who  remember  an  endeavor  to 
establish  a  manual  labor  school  in  New  Haven, 
Connecticut,  for  colored  people,  who  were  then 
excluded  from  other  schools.  The  leading  citi- 
zens of  the  city  government  rose  together  in  their 
indignation  and  defeated  it.  There  are  those 
now  living  who  can  recall  the  time  when  the  in- 
telligent state  of  Connecticut,  after  a  full  discus- 
sion, passed  a  law  making  it  a  crime  to  instruct 
any  colored  child  from  another  state. 

It  was  in  Canterbury,  Connecticut,  that  Miss 
Prudence  Crandall,  who  had  a  girl's  boarding- 
school,  received  into  it  as  a  pupil  a  Christian 
young  woman,  a  negro,  who  wished  to  be  edu- 

13 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

cated  sufficiently  to  teach  children  of  her  race. 
It  was  decided  by  the  citizens  that  such  a  pro- 
cedure could  not  be  countenanced  in  Canterbury. 
Miss  Crandall  pondered  this  injustice  in  her  heart. 
Here  was  one  of  God's  children  for  whom  she 
believed  Christ  had  lived  and  died,  and  who  was 
his  disciple,  forbidden  by  the  community  to  seek 
instruction  in  the  one  place  where  she  could  get 
it.  Upon  this,  Miss  Crandall  resolved  to  open 
a  school  exclusively  for  colored  girls,  and  this 
she  did  in  the  spring  of  1833.  How  cruelly  she 
was  persecuted,  how  shamefully  traduced,  and 
how  bravely  and  patiently  she  bore  her  trials  are 
all  in  the  story.  As  there  was  no  law,  however, 
to  prevent  her,  personal  and  political  influence 
persuaded  the  legislature  of  the  state  to  pass  the 
act  above  referred  to,  making  it  a  personal  of- 
fense punishable  by  fine  and  imprisonment  for 
any  one  in  the  state  to  instruct  colored  children 
from  another  state.  Miss  Crandall  knew  that  she 
was  right,  and  four  or  five  different  trials  were 
had  in  the  courts,  for  her  persistence  in  recog- 
nizing the  "  higher  law."  The  first  resulted  in 
her  committal  to  jail.  In  the  last  trial  before  the 
supreme  court  of  errors  she  won.  The  law  was 
pronounced  unconstitutional,  and  the  result  was 
that  Windham  County,  when  it  thought  it  all 
over,  became  the  most  antisla very  county  in  the, 

14 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

state.  New  Haven  also  repented  and  brought 
forth  fruit  meet  for  repentance,  as  we  shall  ob- 
serve later  on  in  these  pages. 

In  all  this  yielding  to  prejudice  and  unchris- 
tian caste,  Connecticut  was  not  a  sinner  greater 
than  the  other  states.  Wherever  commerce 
touched  the  South,  there  the  convictions  of  the 
North  were  silenced,  and  the  entire  North  seems 
to  have  been  inoculated  with  the  virus  of  slavery. 
It  was  inevitable  that  this  condition  of  things 
should  result  in  the  formation  here  and  there 
of  antislavery  organizations.  Naturally,  those 
which  were  most  radical  and  denunciatory  re- 
ceived the  first  attention.  With  the  wicked  spirit 
of  caste  in  the  North,  the  growing  assertiveness 
of  the  slave  power,  and  its  demands  for  North- 
ern silence  and  acquiescence,  these  organizations 
had  sufficient  fuel  for  their  red-hot  publications. 
There  are  always  those  who  are  susceptible  to 
fiery  appeals. 

Garrison,  the  chief  of  the  denunciatory  leaders, 
found  a  constituency,  but  his  following  was  com- 
paratively small.  Had  his  ideas  and  methods 
received  universal  adoption  in  the  North,  slavery 
would  be  in  existence  in  the  South  to-day. 
Equally  determined  and  greatly  wiser  were  they 
who  formed  The  American  Antislavery  Society, 
which  held  its  first  meeting  in  Philadelphia  in 

i5 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

December,  1833.  Perhaps  its  most  prominent 
members  were  the  brothers,  Arthur  and  Lewis 
Tappan,  of  New  York,  merchants  of  high  stand- 
ing and  men  of  well-balanced  and  admirable  char- 
acter. We  shall  have  more  to  say  of  these  in  later 
pages.  The  sixty-four  who  organized  this  society 
were  almost  all  members  of  churches.  Twenty- 
one  were  Congregationalists  or  Presbyterians, 
nineteen  were  Quakers,  and  one  was  Unitarian. 
Such  names  as  Joshua  Leavitt,  Elizur  Wright, 
John  G.  Whittier,  and  Samuel  J.  May,  were  on 
that  notable  roll.  The  constitution  was  carefully 
drawn  to  safeguard  the  society  against  the  im- 
putation of  unconstitutional  or  anarchic  tenden- 
cies. It  declared  that  the  right  to  legislate  for 
the  abolition  of  slavery  existed  only  in  the  legis- 
lature of  each  state,  that  the  society  would  appeal 
to  Congress  to  prohibit  the  interstate  slave-trade 
and  to  abolish  slavery  in  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia, and  that  the  society  would  not  countenance 
the  insurrection  of  slaves.  It  was  declared  that 
their  principles  led  them  "  to  reject,  and  to  en- 
treat the  oppressed  to  reject,  the  use  of  all  carnal 
weapons  for  deliverance  from  bondage."  Their 
measures,  they  said,  would  be  "  such  only  as  the 
opposition  of  moral  purity  to  moral  corruption, 
the  destruction  of  error  by  the  potency  of  truth, 
and  the  abolition  of  slavery  by  the  spirit  of  re- 

16 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

pentance."  The  society  opposed  the  formation 
of  a  distinct  antislavery  political  party,  deeming 
it  wiser  to  diffuse  their  principles  among  the 
members  of  all  parties.  These  men  were  not  in 
accord  with  the  methods  of  Garrison,  though  he 
was  present  and  wrote  a  declaration  of  principles 
which  was  adopted.  But  he  and  these  men  were 
wide  apart  except  in  a  common  hostility  to  slav- 
ery. He  denounced  the  Constitution;  they  did 
not.  He  held  that  all  human  governments  were 
sinful  and  to  be  ignored  as  resting  on  force,  or  to 
be  submitted  to  passively  without  taking  part; 
they  held  to  the  exact  opposite.  He  declared  the 
Union  should  be  dissolved  because  it  was  a  com- 
pact with  slaveholders;  they  believed  that  the 
Union  must  and  should  be  preserved.  To  him 
the  churches  "  were  cages  of  unclean  birds  and 
synagogues  of  Satan,"  but  these  men  were  mem- 
bers of  churches.  It  was  a  matter  of  course, 
therefore,  that  there  should  be  a  division  of  anti- 
slavery  forces,  and  it  came  to  pass  that  the  term 
"  Abolitionist,"  which  in  the  South  was  applied  to 
all  who  wished  to  see  slavery  abolished,  had  quite 
a  different  signification  in  the  North.  The  name 
"  Abolitionist  "  did  not  usually  signify  those  who 
were  opposed  to  slavery,  but  who  held  that  op- 
position along  with  other  political  tenets  and  not 
as  a  supreme  article  of  faith.     These  were  best 

17 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

included  under  the  general  term  of  "  antislavery 
men."  The  vituperative  methods  of  Garrison  and 
those  who  hated  iniquity  after  his  fashion  did 
not  appeal  to  those  who,  equally  disinterested, 
equally  determined  and  earnest,  were  well  bal- 
anced, broader  and  wiser.  No  less  radical  in 
their  views  as  to  the  iniquity  of  human  bondage, 
they  realized  the  complexity  of  the  problem,  the 
absolute  necessity  of  patience  in  reforms,  and  the 
faith  that  can  wait  upon  the  developments  of 
time.  That  slavery  was  a  system  opposed  to 
Christianity  did  not  contain  all  the  terms  of  the 
problem. 

The  fact  that  so  many  of  the  churches  were 
oblivious  to  the  great  evil  did  not  lead  these 
people  to  cut  loose  from  the  churches.  They  re- 
mained true  to  them  even  when  they  clearly  saw 
that  they  failed  to  recognize  all  that  duty  de- 
manded. They  believed  they  could  do  more 
toward  correcting  opinion  within  than  by  stand- 
ing without  and  screaming  against  those  who  did 
not  agree  with  them;  by  working  with  such 
political  alliances  as  could  further  in  some  de- 
gree their  convictions  rather  than  by  refusing 
to  have  anything  to  do  with  any  of  them  because 
they  failed  to  compass  the  entire  obligation.  To 
swell  the  current  of  true  public  opinion  by  direct- 
ing what  streams  of  influence  they  could,  was 

18 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

better  than  standing  upon  the  bank  and  criticiz- 
ing the  sluggishness  of  the  movement  and  the 
crookedness  of  the  channel. 

In  1835  this  American  Antislavery  Society 
had  two  hundred  and  twenty-five  auxiliary  so- 
cieties. A  year  later  these  had  increased  in 
number  to  five  hundred  and  twenty-seven,  and 
in  1837  there  were  twelve  hundred  with  about 
one  hundred  and  twenty-five  thousand  members. 
At  the  seventh  annual  meeting  of  this  Anti- 
slavery  Society,  May,  1840,  the  expected  divi- 
sion of  the  body  took  place,  and  a  new  national 
society  was  formed  named  "  The  American  and 
Foreign  Antislavery  Society."  Arthur  Tappan, 
after  he  had  declined  a  reelection  as  head  of  the 
old  society,  was  chosen  president. 

A  large  executive  committee  of  leaders  was 
appointed  who  realized  that  the  methods  of  Gar- 
rison and  his  followers  were  impossible.  They 
repudiated  a  hostile  attitude  toward  the  churches 
and  unsound  positions  respecting  the  Constitution 
and  the  government.  This  committee,  consisting 
of  the  Tappan  brothers,  Mr.  Birney,  Mr.  Stan- 
ton, William  Jackson,  John  G.  Whittier,  Ger- 
rit  Smith,  Judge  William  Jay,  Joshua  Leavitt, 
W.  H.  Brisbane,  Edward  Beecher,  and  others, 
made  no  delay  in  placing  their  case  before  the 
country,  giving  the  grounds  of  disagreement  in 

19 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

the  antislavery  ranks  and  a  statement  of  prin- 
ciples. The  antislavery  sentiment  almost  every- 
where turned  to  the  organizations  in  accord  with 
this  new  society. 

Thus  the  aggressive  and  ever-widening  move- 
ment against  slavery  went  steadily  on  through 
defamations,  mobs,  and  outrages  that  were  a 
scandal  for  a  civilized  country.  In  part  by  means 
of  these  the  evolution  went  on.  The  kingdom 
of  God  comes,  not  only  in  spite  of  the  conflicts 
of  human  will,  but  often  by  means  of  them.  His- 
tory is  full  of  movements  which  themselves  were 
big  with  injustice,  and  from  which  painfully 
evolved  the  very  arguments  to  overcome  them 
and  deliver  the  people  from  their  evils.  "  Great 
destinies,"  says  Emerson,  "  grow  out  of  their  im- 
pediments and  draw  might  out  of  them."  The 
progress  of  mankind  has  thus  been  through  storm 
and  against  head  winds.  The  course  has  sel- 
dom been  a  straight  one,  as  men  planned,  but  a 
crooked  one,  as  men  made  it,  like  a  ship  beat- 
ing its  way  against  hard  and  furious  weather. 
Providence  assuredly  was  not  tarrying.  The 
various  antislavery  societies  here  and  there 
were  printing  their  pamphlets,  distributing  their 
tracts,  and  making  friends  as  well  as  enemies. 
The  Rev.  Dr.  R.  S.  Storrs,  while  president  of 
the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  thus 

20 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

reviewed  the  conditions  of  the  country  at  this 
time : 

The  authority  of  the  slave-power  seemed  established 
at  Washington,  dominant  over  Congress,  supreme  in 
the  courts :  and  no  limit  was  apparent  to  political  sagac- 
ity beyond  which  that  power  might  not  be  pressed.  .  .  . 

The  churches  at  the  South  were  practically  unani- 
mous in  the  contention  that  slavery  was  right  in  itself, 
that  it  had  ample  Biblical  warrant,  in  patriarchal  ex- 
ample, and  particularly  in  the  direction  of  St.  Paul 
that  servants  should  obey  their  masters,  and  in  his 
sending  back  to  Philemon  the  escaped  Onesimus. 
Whatever  occasional  injustice  to  individuals  might 
occur  under  local  slave  laws  they  held  that  the  sys- 
tem, as  such,  had  these  superlative  sanctions,  and  ought 
to  be  maintained,  while  the  abuses,  wherever  practi- 
cable, should  be  relieved  or  removed.  This  sentiment, 
of  course,  practically  and  profoundly  affected  churches 
at  the  North.  The  great  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
divided  on  the  issue,  with  almost  geographical  exact- 
ness, and  two  General  Conferences  thereafter  occupied 
the  area  previously  for  sixty  years  covered  by  one. 
Other  communions  in  this  part  of  the  country,  while 
not  so  distinctly  rent  asunder,  were  painfully  divided 
by  the  impact  of  Southern  feeling  upon  them.  The 
Old-School  Presbyterian  Church  was  widely  permeated 
by  this  feeling.  The  Episcopal  Church,  with  noble 
individual  exceptions,  was  apathetic  on  the  subject. 
The  Congregationalists,  less  closely  connected  with  the 
South  than  either  of  the  others,  were  distributed  by 
the  question,  according  to  their  Christian  or  ethical  sym- 

21 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

pathies,  in  different  directions.  Distinguished  presi- 
dents and  professors  in  colleges  and  seminaries  were 
sometimes  open  supporters  of  the  system,  or  confess- 
edly tolerant  of  it,  or,  more  frequently,  they  stood 
toward  the  whole  momentous  subject  as  dumb  and 
cold  as  stone  statues.  Young  men  who  should  have 
known  better  seemed  sometimes  to  take  an  eccentric 
pleasure  in  devising  plausible  arguments  for  the  right 
of  one  man,  under  special  circumstances,  to  own  an- 
other. Prominent  city  pulpits  were  glad  to  present  in 
persuasive  forms  what  was  distinctively  styled  "  the 
South-side  view  " ;  and  ministers  who  resisted  and  an- 
tagonized such  tendencies  were  apt  to  be  regarded  as 
presumptuous  radicals.  The  influence  affected  great 
religious  institutions.  The  American  Tract  Society, 
which  issued  profuse  tracts  against  dancing,  novel- 
reading,  and  similar  iniquities,  was  utterly  dumb  before 
this  colossal  national  wickedness,  and  even  the  really 
infernal  laws  which  authorized  the  master  to  separate 
wives  from  their  husbands,  children  from  parents,  and 
sell  either  or  all  in  public  markets,  failed  to  stir  its 
torpid  types.  The  society  must  live  long  to  outlast 
the  memory  of  that  disgraceful  and  damaging  silence. 
The  American  Sunday  School  Union  was  in  like  man- 
ner practically  fettered  and  stifled ;  and  repeated  efforts 
to  induce  the  American  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  to 
take  decisive  antislavery  ground,  while  carrying  on 
its  work  among  Cherokees  and  Choctaws  and  other 
slaveholding  peoples,  wholly  failed  of  success,  out  of 
which  failure  came,  however,  The  American  Missionary 
Association,  since  so  justly  honored  and  so  widely  and 
nobly  useful. 

22 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

But  the  spirit  which  disputed  and  strove  to  arrest 
such  tendencies  at  the  North  was  not  dead,  nor  even 
sleeping.  For  the  most  part,  certainly,  the  Congrega- 
tional ministers  of  New  England,  especially  through- 
out the  rural  districts,  were  intelligently  and  consist- 
ently hostile  to  slavery,  and  were  ready  to  take  their 
respective  shares  of  service  and  sacrifice  on  behalf  of 
their  convictions.  The  same  was  widely  true  of  other 
than  the  Old-School  ministers  in  the  Middle  States, 
and  yet  more  widely  of  those  at  the  West ;  while  the 
general  ethical  sense  of  our  Northern  communities  was 
being  impressed  and  sharply  stirred,  not  so  much  by 
what  might  be  said  in  pulpit  or  on  platform,  as  through 
what  passed  from  one  to  another  in  neighborly  con- 
versation and  fireside  talk.  It  was  a  matter  of  common 
observation  that  laymen  were  often  in  advance  of  those 
who  should  have  been  their  moral  leaders,  on  the  ques- 
tion of  slavery ;  and  that,  while  the  special  antislavery 
papers  had  limited  circulation,  there  was  a  constantly 
rising  ground-swell  of  resistance  to  the  ideas  under- 
lying the  system,  among  all  classes  not  personally  or 
financially  allied  with  it. 

In  this  evolution  one  of  the  providences  which 
led  directly  to  the  organization  of  The  American 
Missionary  Association  was  an  event  which  ex- 
cited the  attention  of  the  nation. 

In  the  spring  of  1839  a  number  of  Africans 
near  the  West  coast  were  kidnapped  by  some  of 
their  own  countrymen  who  acted  as  agents  of 
Spanish  slave-traders,  placed  on  board  a  Portu- 

23 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

guese  slaver,  which  took  them  to  Havana,  where 
they  were  sold  to  two  Cubans,  the  largest  pur- 
chaser taking  forty-nine  of  them  for  $450  each. 
A  little  schooner  of  about  sixty  tons  was  char- 
tered to  take  them  to  Guana j  a,  another  Cuban 
port.  They  had  been  brought  over  in  irons,  but 
it  was  thought  to  be  unnecessary  to  chain  them 
down  on  this  short  coasting  voyage.  One  of 
them  asked  the  cook  where  they  were  being 
taken,  and  was  told  that  they  were  going  to  be 
killed  and  eaten.  This  cruel  jest  was  taken  for 
literal  fact,  and  since  they  were  to  be  killed,  it 
seemed  to  them  that  it  could  be  no  worse  if  they 
were  killed  in  making  a  strike  for  their  liberty. 
Their  chief  was  a  tall,  stalwart  African  with  a 
bold  spirit.  During  the  second  night  and  under 
his  lead  they  rose  against  their  captors.  The 
captain  of  the  schooner  was  killed  by  this  chief, 
as  was  the  cook  whose  ill-timed  pleasantry  roused 
the  captives.  The  cabin-boy,  Antonio,  a  mulatto 
slave  of  the  captain,  and  Ruiz,  one  of  the  slaves' 
purchasers,  were  secured  and  bound.  The  other 
purchaser,  Montez,  was  severely  wounded.  The 
crew  took  to  one  of  the  vessel's  boats  and  escaped. 
It  was  the  design  of  the  captives  now  to  attempt  the 
voyage  back  to  Africa,  of  which  they  knew  only 
that  it  was  "  three  moons  distant  and  eastward." 
By  threats  and  signs  they  made  Ruiz  and  Montez 

24 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

take  the  wheel  by  turns  and  steer  toward  the 
east,  but  every  night  as  soon  as  the  sun  had 
gone  those  at  the  helm  would  bring  the  schooner 
gradually  about  and  head  for  the  north.  They 
were  two  months  zigzagging  in  this  way,  when 
on  Sunday,  August  25,  they  cast  anchor  on  what 
proved  to  be  the  northern  coast  of  Long  Island, 
not  far  from  Montauk  Point.  A  party  of  them 
on  a  tour  of  discovery  came  ashore,  their  only 
clothing  being  a  handkerchief  twisted  around 
their  loins ;  those  not  having  this  protection  wore 
blankets  thrown  over  their  shoulders.  They  went 
to  the  neighboring  houses  for  food  and  water, 
and  had  Spanish  gold,  which  they  took  from  the 
schooner  for  the  purchase.  On  Monday,  while 
they  were  upon  the  beach,  a  number  of  the 
neighboring  inhabitants  drove  up  to  find  out 
who  these  strange,  costumeless  creatures  might 
be.  One  of  them,  "  Banna/'  who  knew  a  few 
English  words,  tried  to  communicate  with  them. 
His  first  inquiry  indicated  what  kind  of  influ- 
ence these  negro  people  had  received  from  visi- 
tors who  had  gone  to  their  native  land  from 
civilized  countries.  It  was,  "  Have  you  any 
rum?"  at  the  same  time  exhibiting  Spanish 
doubloons.  It  is  a  shame  to  record  that  they 
received  a  bottle  of  gin  in  exchange  for  some 
of  their  money.     The  chief  who  was  on  board 

25 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

of  the  schooner  was  now  sent  for,  who  immedi- 
ately asked  through  Banna  if  this  country  made 
slaves.  The  reply  was,  "  No."  "  Are  any  Span- 
iards here?  "  "  No."  At  this  the  chief  whistled 
and  the  Africans  sprang  up  shouting  for  joy. 
The  white  men,  frightened,  ran  to  their  wagons 
for  their  guns,  but  the  blacks  showed  them  that 
there  was  no  danger  by  presenting  them  with 
their  own  guns,  of  which  they  had  two,  and  a 
knife. 

On  the  afternoon  of  this  day  a  coast  survey 
brig,  the  Washington,  came  into  this  part  of  the 
Sound,  and,  attracted  by  the  strange  appearance 
of  the  schooner,  which  seemed  to  be  in  distress, 
sent  a  boat's  crew  to  her  assistance.  They  found 
the  negroes  on  deck  armed  with  cane-knives. 
The  boarding  officer,  at  the  point  of  a  pistol,  sent 
them  below,  and  the  two  Spaniards  who  had 
purchased  these  Africans  for  slaves  were  re- 
leased. The  chief,  upon  this,  sprang  into  the 
water  and  made  for  the  shore.  He  was  pur- 
sued, retaken  and  handcuffed.  The  Africans 
now  numbered  forty-four,  three  of  whom  were 
young  girls.  Ten  had  died  on  the  night  of  the 
capture.  The  Washington  took  her  prize  across 
the  Sound  into  the  harbor  of  New  London.  The 
Africans  were  committed  to  jail  in  New  Haven, 
charged  with  the  crimes  of  murder  and  piracy, 

26 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

and  the  whole  forty-four  crowded  into  four  apart- 
ments in  New  Haven  County  jail.  "  Here  on  the 
soil  of  a  free  state  were  a  body  of  men  in  confine- 
ment on  a  charge  of  murder,  because  when  kid- 
napped against  law  on  a  Spanish  vessel,  they 
had  risked  life  for  liberty."  The  slave  power 
saw  clearly  what  was  involved  in  the  issue  and 
was  excited.  The  government  took  the  Southern 
view  that  the  crime  must  be  punished  and  res- 
toration be  made  to  Spain,  but  these  unfortunate 
people  were  not  to  go  undefended. 

Rev.  Simeon  S.  Jocelyn,  subsequently  a  secre- 
tary of  The  American  Missionary  Association, 
Rev.  Joshua  Leavitt,  and  Lewis  Tappan  volun- 
teered to  act  as  a  committee  in  their  behalf,  to 
receive  funds  for  their  defense,  and  to  provide 
them  clothing  and  other  necessities.  They  found 
a  friend  also  in  Professor  Gibbs  of  the  Yale 
Divinity  School,  who,  having  learned  the  sounds 
of  some  of  their  words,  went  to  New  York  and 
about  the  shipping  in  the  harbor  until  he  found 
an  African  sailor-boy  from  Sierra  Leone  who 
recognized  the  words.  He  had  some  acquaint- 
ance with  English,  and  accompanying  Professor 
Gibbs  to  New  Haven  on  September  9,  the  cap- 
tives were  moved  to  tell  their  story  and  to  com- 
municate freely.  Professor  Gibbs,  with  the  in- 
terpreter's aid,  set  out  to  make  a  vocabulary  of 

27 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

their  language,  which  was  that  of  the  Mendi 
country,  north  of  Liberia,  and  was  soon  able 
to  converse  with  most  of  them. 

It  was  in  September  when  the  case  went  to 
court  before  Judge  Thompson,  whose  decision 
was  that  "  while  slavery  is  not  tolerated  in  Con- 
necticut, it  does  not  follow  that  the  right  of  these 
Spanish  claimants  cannot  be  investigated  here  in 
the  proper  court  of  the  United  States."  The 
discharge  of  the  Africans  was  therefore  refused, 
but  as  Judge  Thompson  had  decided  that  they 
had  committed  no  crime  against  our  laws,  they 
were  now  given  much  more  freedom,  and  on 
pleasant  days  were  taken  out  on  the  New  Haven 
green  for  exercise.  Within  the  jail  also  they 
had  much  more  freedom. 

The  appeal  was  now  to  the  District  Court. 
Judge  Judson,  who  presided,  had  been  best 
known  as  having  brought  the  criminal  proceed- 
ings against  Prudence  Crandall  for  setting  up 
a  boarding-school  at  Canterbury,  his  own  town, 
for  colored  girls.  His  decision,  after  a  trial 
which  lasted  a  week,  was  that  the  prisoners  were 
free-born  and  only  kidnapped  into  slavery,  were 
free  by  the  law  of  Spain  itself,  and  that  they 
should  be  delivered  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States  to  be  by  him  transported  back  to  Africa. 
The  claimants  of  the  Africans  had   one  more 

?8 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

chance.  Appeal  to  the  Supreme  Court  at  Wash- 
ington could  not  be  denied  them.  John  Quincy 
Adams  was  added  to  the  counsel  in  behalf  of  the 
negroes,  and  with  Roger  S.  Baldwin  the  case 
went  to  the  Supreme  Court  for  decision.  The 
hearing  was  reached  in  February,  1841,  and  in 
March  the  captives  were  declared  "  free  to  be 
dismissed  from  the  custody  of  the  court  and  go 
without  delay." 

It  had  been  a  great  battle.  Adams  had  brought 
his  learning  and  ability  with  supreme  earnest- 
ness, Roger  S.  Baldwin  had  argued  with  resist- 
less power,  but  while  the  captives  were  free, 
"  their  freedom,"  as  Baldwin  said,  "  was  a  barren 
gift.  .  .  .  They  were  here  separated  from  their 
homes  by  the  distance  of  half  the  globe  and  in 
a  state  where  they  might  be  pitied  but  were  not 
wanted."  The  united  committee  resolved  not  to 
relinquish  their  labors  until  the  Africans  had 
been  safely  restored  to  their  native  land.  New 
appeals  for  subscriptions  were  made  and  the 
necessary  funds  were  secured.  In  1842  these 
people  found  themselves  again  in  their  own 
native  country,  accompanied  by  two  Christian 
missionaries. 

The  first  suggestion  was  that  they  should  be 
sent  back  in  this  way  under  the  auspices  of  The 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 

29 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Missions,  and  the  Amistad  Committee  offered 
what  funds  they  had  collected  to  the  Board  for 
this  purpose,  provided  they  would  make  it  an 
antislavery  mission.  The  Board  declined  the 
proposition,  and  the  committee  went  forward  on 
its  own  responsibility  in  establishing  the  "  Mendi 
Mission,"  the  first  mission  on  the  Dark  Con- 
tinent, the  funds  for  which  were  largely  fur- 
nished by  Arthur  Tappan. 

This  same  year  there  was  organized  in  Hart- 
ford, Connecticut,  a  society  with  the  same  aim 
as  the  Amistad  Committee,  viz.,  "  to  discounte- 
nance slavery,  and  especially  by  refusing  to  re- 
ceive the  known  fruits  of  unrequited  labor." 
The  Amistad  Committee  soon  afterwards  be- 
came merged  in  this,  named  The  Union  Mission- 
ary Society,  and  under  its  auspices  the  mission- 
aries directed  the  mission  station  at  Kaw-Mendi, 
where  a  church  was  organized,  a  school  estab- 
lished, and  a  decided  influence  exerted  in  that 
region  against  the  slave-trade. 

In  1837  an  independent  mission  had  been 
undertaken  among  the  emancipated  people  of 
Jamaica,  which  was  intended  to  be  self-support- 
ing. This,  upon  trial,  was  found  to  be  imprac- 
ticable, and  in  1844  a  committee  to  provide  for 
and  direct  this  was  organized  under  the  name 
of  a  "  Committee  for  West  Indian  Missions." 

3° 


CONDITIONS   WHICH   CREATED 

Early  in  1846  a  call  from  Syracuse,  New  York, 
was  issued  for  a  convention  of  "  friends  of  Bible 
Missions  "  to  be  held  in  Albany  in  September. 
Upon  the  call,  the  "  friends  of  Bible  Missions  " 
assembled.  In  the  call  it  was  asserted  that  "  The 
time  has  come  when  those  who  would  sustain 
missions  for  the  propagation  of  a  pure  and  free 
Christianity  should  institute  arrangements  for 
gathering  and  sustaining  churches  in  heathen 
lands,  from  which  the  sins  of  caste,  polygamy, 
slaveholding,  and  the  like  shall  be  excluded.  To 
bear  such  crimes  in  silence,  not  to  say  to  direct 
practice  or  fellowship  therein  is  enough  to  para- 
lyze the  faith  and  hope  of  the  church,"  etc. 

Two  days  were  occupied  in  a  free  and  har- 
monious discussion.  At  last,  when  it  appeared 
that  there  was  no  other  way  to  be  free  from  the 
complications  of  slavery,  those  who  could  not 
sustain  it  and  who  could  not  keep  silent,  formed 
a  constitution  and  elected  officers.  Hon.  William 
Jackson,  of  Massachusetts,  was  elected  President, 
George  Whipple,  of  Ohio,  Corresponding  Secre- 
tary, and  Lewis  Tappan,  Treasurer. 

Thus  The  American  Missionary  Association 
began  its  life. 

The  executive  committee  were  located  in  the 
city  of  New  York.  As  the  founders  of  this 
Association  largely  composed  the  local  societies 

31 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

above  mentioned,  these  soon  merged  themselves 
into  the  new  association  which  should  be  na- 
tional and  unify  their  work.  Arthur  Tappan, 
who  was  the  chief  mover  in  the  Amistad  Com- 
mittee, and  its  head,  became  chairman  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee  of  The  American  Missionary 
Association. 

These  societies  having  transferred  their  funds 
and  missions,  the  Association  vigorously  entered 
upon  its  work  of  strengthening  the  missions  al- 
ready begun,  and  establishing  or  accepting  the 
care  of  others,  —  one  missionary  at  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  two  in  Siam,  and  a  number  among 
the  colored  refugees  in  Canada.  "  The  Home 
Department  "  was  conducted  with  a  special  view 
to  the  preaching  of  the  gospel,  "  free  from  all 
complicity  with  slavery  or  caste." 

Two  years  later  the  "  Western  Evangelical 
Society,"  which  had  been  formed  in  1843  to 
prosecute  missionary  operations  among  the  In- 
dian tribes  of  the  West,  likewise  transferred  its 
missions  to  The  American  Missionary  Associa- 
ton  and  ceased  to  exist. 


32 


II 

FOREIGN   MISSIONS 
IN  AFRICA 


The  outlook  of  the  new  society.  —  Appeal  of  the  ex- 
ecutive committee.  —  The  coming  of  Secretary  Whipple. 

—  The  Mendi  Mission  in  the  foreground.  —  An  industrial 
school  at  Kaw-Mendi.  —  Views  of  Rev.  Josiah  Brewer, 
one  of  the  founders  of  the  Association  and  member  of  the 
executive  committee.  —  Theory  of  self-sustaining  mis- 
sions. —  Rapid  death-rate  of  white  missionaries  in  Africa. 

—  Three  central  stations,  with  schools  and  churches.  — 
Generous  gift  of  Rev.  Charles  Avery  of  Pittsburg  for 
African  Missions.  —  The  increased  death-rate  of  mis- 
sionaries. —  Decision  to  send  colored  graduates  of  our 
higher  institutions.  —  Unsuccessful  experience. — Trans- 
fer of  the  Mendi  Mission  in  1882  to  "  The  Society  of 
United  Brethren." 


II 

FOREIGN    MISSIONS 
IN   AFRICA 

IN  this  way  faith  had  its  vision  and  its  call. 
People  who  believed  in  God  looked  out  upon 
another  people,  children  of  a  common  Father, 
who  were  born  under  the  skies  of  a  common 
country  in  a  land  of  churches  and  Bibles,  and 
saw  them,  not  only  with  no  legal  rights,  but  not 
even  with  the  rights  of  their  own  persons  —  chat- 
tels under  the  laws  —  bought  and  sold  as  things, 
in  sin  and  degradation  and  without  hope  in  the 
world.  Their  faith  saw  more;  it  looked  into  the 
future.  It  saw  this  people  free  and  walking  as 
erect  men;  it  saw  them  listening  to  a  gospel 
whose  saving  grace  should  bring  with  it  clean 
hands  and  a  pure  heart.  Its  vision  took  in  men 
and  women  going,  in  self-sacrificing  love,  to  in- 
terpret the  love  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of 
man  to  those  who  had  been  in  darkness  and  in 
the  shadow  of  death.  Their  faith  did  not  know 
how  this  was  to  be,  nor  when  it  was  to  be.  They 
had  their  vision,  and  they  had  their  call.      They 

35 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

could  not  be  silenced  because  of  the  power  which 
worked  in  them. 

It  is  God  who  causes  the  hearts  of  men  to  burn 
within  them  when  they  look  with  his  look  upon 
the  sufferings  which  come  through  sin.  When 
the  ear  of  faith  hears  this  call  of  God,  then  people 
find  themselves  confronted  by  problems  which  will 
no  longer  wait ;  then  come  the  tides  in  the  affairs 
of  men;  then  God's  time  and  God's  people  find 
themselves  face  to  face.  So  it  was.  To  all  ap- 
pearance, the  way  that  The  American  Missionary 
Association  had  elected  appeared  most  hopeless. 
Those  who  comprised  it  were  few,  and  were 
not  accounted  wise.  They  were  "  fanatics  "  and 
"  men  of  one  idea."  The  sentiment  of  most  of 
the  churches  and  the  strength  and  wealth  of  the 
nation  were  against  them.  The  slave  power  was 
increasing.  The  annexation  of  Texas  had  opened 
a  great  field  for  it.  This  not  only  meant  new 
votes  in  the  Senate  and  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives, but  several  new  states  out  of  its  im- 
mense territory.  The  question  of  slavery  exten- 
sion had  become  more  than  ever  insistent.  The 
proslavery  administration  of  James  K.  Polk  was 
dominant,  and  political  life  was  everywhere  fever- 
ishly sensitive. 

This  little  society,  with  faith  as  its  chief  asset, 
set  its  face  against  this.    In  the  first  issue  of  its 

36 


FOREIGN  MISSIONS 

"Magazine"  in  October,  1846,  the  executive 
committee  refers  to  the  address  of  the  conven- 
tion which  organized  the  Association  for  a  state- 
ment of  its  principles,  and  asks  "  the  prayers  of 
the  friends  of  Bible  Missions  everywhere  that 
they  may  always  speak  the  truth  in  love."  It 
closes  its  appeal  for  Christian  sympathy  and  co- 
operation as  follows :  — 

The  field  is  unrestricted.  Beginning  with  our  own 
highly  favored  and  guilty  country,  the  Association 
will,  as  it  may  be  able,  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor, 
assist  feeble  churches,  sustain  missionary  operations 
amongst  the  free  colored  population,  and  preach  de- 
liverance to  the  crushed  and  stricken  slave.  It  will 
endeavor  to  strengthen  and  extend  the  interesting  mis- 
sion to  the  Indians.  The  fugitive  slaves  in  Canada 
present  an  important  field  of  missionary  effort.  The 
West  India  Mission  among  the  emancipated  slaves  of 
Jamaica  has  great  and  pressing  wants.  The  Mendi 
Mission  should  be  enlarged  immediately,  and  many 
reasons  induce  the  committee  to  turn  their  earliest 
attention  to  India  and  China. 

In  the  issue  of  December,  1846,  we  read:  "  The 
Executive  Committee  have  the  pleasure  to  an- 
nounce that  the  Rev.  George  Whipple,  of  Ohio, 
has  been  appointed  Corresponding  Secretary  of 
The  American  Missionary  Association,  that  he 
has  accepted  the  appointment,  and  is  now  in  the 
city  entering  upon  the  duties  of  the  office.    They 

37 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

bespeak  for  him  the  prayers  of  the  members  and 
friends  of  the  Association  and  the  friends  of 
missions." 

At  once  the  Mendi  Mission  in  Africa  appears 
in  the  foreground  of  the  Association's  first  work. 
Two  missionaries  had  accompanied  the  return- 
ing captives  to  their  African  home  when  the  As- 
sociation took  charge.  One  had  already  died. 
Rev.  R.  Raymond  and  wife  were  now  at  Kaw- 
Mendi  with  an  assistant  native  teacher  who  could 
speak  English.  A  school  had  been  immediately 
established  —  a  manual  labor  school.  This  pio- 
neer missionary,  in  1846,  writes:  "The  school  is 
continually  increasing.  It  now  numbers  thirty- 
nine,  six  of  whom  are  girls.  Twelve  of  these  are 
apprentices  —  ten  to  the  carpenter's  trade,  one  to 
the  sawyer's  and  one  to  the  blacksmith's.  Part 
are  in  school  all  the  time.  Those  who  are  in 
school  in  the  morning  are  with  the  carpenters 
in  the  afternoon  and  vice  versa.  Each  division 
of  the  school  takes  its  turn  in  cooking.  The  girls 
assist  in  the  cooking  and  in  taking  care  of  the 
house  and  are  learning  to  sew.  You  can  easily 
see  that  the  object  of  all  this  is  to  teach  them 
industry.  My  plan  is  to  make  this  in  the  end 
a  self-supporting  mission." 

This  was  twenty-one  years  before  the  school 
at  Talladega  in  Alabama  was  founded,  where  the 

38 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

industrial  idea  in  the  schools  of  the  South  had 
its  first  introduction.  The  missionary  in  Sierra 
Leone  certainly  had  the  gift  of  prophecy,  but 
we  shall  be  surprised  as  we  follow  the  develop- 
ment of  this  African  mission  if  we  find  that  it 
ever  became  "  self-supporting  "  ! 

In  1847  the  Rev.  Josiah  Brewer,  one  of  those 
who  organized  The  American  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation at  Albany,  and  who  was  upon  its  first 
executive  board,  a  missionary  who  had  returned 
from  Turkey  in  Asia,  —  the  honored  father  of 
the  honored  son  whose  learning  serves  his  coun- 
try upon  the  bench  of  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court,  —  writes  to  the  editor  of  The  Missionary 
as  follows :  — 

Manual  labor  missionaries  are  wanted  among  many 
unevangelized  nations  to  make  labor  honorable.  Slav- 
ery, we  all  know,  tends  to  degrade  labor.  Barbarism 
turns  it  over  in  undue  proportions  upon  females.  I 
well  remember  before  laboring  in  foreign  lands,  when 
spending  a  few  weeks  among  the  poor  Indians  on  the 
Penobscot,  an  incident  in  point.  Having  provided  my- 
self with  several  hoes,  in  the  intervals  of  school  I  went 
out  into  the  corn-fields  and  began  to  work.  On  see- 
ing this  the  Indian  boys  said  in  their  broken  English, 
"  Schoolmaster  no  hoe ;  woman  he  hoe."  By  perse- 
verance, however,  before  summer  was  past  not  a  few 
of  the  boys  got  quite  in  the  habit  of  helping  their 
mothers  in  this  work. 

39 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Let  it  not  be  objected  that  such  missionaries  can- 
not be  all  the  while  engaged  in  public  teaching ;  neither 
was  Paul.  Missionaries  of  this  class  are  needed  on 
account  of  their  knowledge  of  men  and  things  and 
their  experience  in  the  common  affairs  of  life.  Mis- 
sionaries are  required  in  all  the  varied  departments 
of  honest  industry  to  perform  the  different  kinds  of 
mechanical  labor  and  business  on  strictly  Christian 
principles.  ...  I  deem  it  one  of  the  felicities  of  our 
new  society  that  we  shall  not  feel  ourselves  tied  down 
in  all  things  to  precedents  whose  existence  dates  back 
little  more  than  one  generation. 

The  forerunners,  "  not  tied  down  to  prece- 
dents," certainly  did  not  get  their  ideas  of  in- 
dustrial training  from  those  who  introduced  it 
twenty  years  later.  It  was  good  for  Africa  in 
1847,  as  ^  always  is  for  the  masses  of  peoples 
developed  or  undeveloped.  Mr.  Raymond's  hope 
of  "  self-sustaining  missions,"  however,  never 
had  large  realization.  The  theory  is  right,  but 
in  practise  "  self-supporting  missions  "  have  usu- 
ally proved  to  be  financially  very  expensive. 

Again  in  1847  this  earnest  missionary,  Ray- 
mond, in  Africa,  writes :  "  I  have  in  every  way 
encouraged  industry  and  have  set  the  example, 
working  with  my  hands.  I  have  commenced  me- 
chanical and  agricultural  departments  with  my 
school.  Every  boy  in  this  school  large  enough 
must  work;   whether  he  is  the  son  of  a  king  or 

40 


Rev.  Josiah  Brewer 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

a  slave,  it  makes  no  difference.  There  are  some 
who  within  a  year  have  been  sold  like  cattle, 
yet  they  are  on  the  same  footing  with  the  sons 
of  the  king." 

When  the  first  year  of  the  Association  closed, 
Mr.  Raymond's  manual  labor  school  numbered 
one  hundred  pupils.  The  second  Annual  Report 
publishes  "  the  most  afflictive  providence  that  has 
befallen  the  Mission  in  the  death  of  its  first  mis- 
sionary to  Africa."  Mr.  Raymond's  work  was 
one  of  heroic  and  incredible  labor  and  remark- 
able accomplishment.  The  early  progress  of  the 
Mission  had  been  embarrassed  by  the  outbreak- 
ing of  a  native  war,  yet  during  all  this  unpro- 
pitious  period,  the  Mission  school  had  greatly 
prospered,  and  its  influence  was  felt  far  and 
wide.  But  by  Mr.  Raymond's  death  in  1847  the 
Mission  lost  its  leading  spirit,  who  had  wisely 
shaped  its  early  development.  Thomas  Bunyan, 
a  converted  native  of  Mendi,  who  had  acted  as 
interpreter  and  teacher,  and  who  had  become 
an  efficient  helper,  was  left  in  charge  until  re- 
enforcements  arrived  from  the  United  States  in 
the  persons  of  Rev.  George  Thompson  and  Anson 
J.  Carter,  who  reached  Kaw-Mendi  in  July,  1848. 
Mr.  Carter  died  eight  days  after  he  had  arrived 
at  the  Mission.  In  November,  1849,  Mr.  Thomp- 
son was  gladdened  by  the  announcement  of  the 

41 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

coming  to  his  aid  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  S.  Brooks 
with  Miss  Sara  Kinson  (Mar-Gru,  one  of  the 
Amistad  captives  who  had  remained  in  this 
country  for  eight  years  and  had  been  educated 
here),  but  Mrs.  Brooks  died  in  Sierra  Leone  of  the 
African  fever  before  reaching  Kaw-Mendi  station. 

At  this  time  the  mission  church  numbered  forty 
members,  and  the  missionaries  reported  great  en- 
couragement in  the  signs  of  increasing  religious 
interest.  A  whole  village  gave  up  idolatry  and 
were  ministered  unto  by  three  native  missionaries 
sent  to  them. 

The  war  between  the  tribes,  which  had  been 
raging  for  several  years,  was  at  last  brought 
to  a  close  through  the  persistent  efforts  of  Mr. 
Thompson.  He  was  chosen  umpire  by  contend- 
ing chiefs,  and  after  repeated  and  trying  excur- 
sions to  interview  and  influence  the  different 
parties,  he  at  length  succeeded.  It  was  a  grand 
achievement  which  made  for  the  extension  and 
success  of  the  Mission.  "  Already,"  he  wrote, 
"  there  is  a  desire  for  the  gospel  and  for  living 
teachers  such  as  was  never  known  in  this  coun- 
try." The  rulers  and  the  people  met  him,  eager 
to  hear  him  preach.  Another  of  the  Amistad  cap- 
tives, Kinna,  had  become  an  earnest  evangelist 
among  his  countrymen.  In  1850  Mr.  Thompson 
returned  to  the  United  States  to  recruit  his  health 

42 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

and  to  arouse  the  churches  here  to  interest  them- 
selves in  African  missions  and  also  to  secure  re- 
enforcements  for  his  field,  Mr.  Brooks  being  left 
in  charge. 

In  185 1  eight  missionaries  arrived  at  Sierra 
Leone  on  their  way  to  join  the  Mendi  Mission, 
three  of  whom  died  of  African  fever  in  quick  suc- 
cession soon  after  their  arrival. 

The  year  1851,  which  began  with  such  bright 
hopes  for  the  Mission,  was  darkly  shadowed  by 
these  swift-following  bereavements,  but  still  the 
working  force  was  larger  than  ever,  and  all  the 
conditions  seemed  to  facilitate  the  labors  of  the 
missionaries.  The  chiefs  and  their  tribes  were 
ready  to  hear  the  gospel;  many  gave  up  their 
idol-worship,  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  four- 
teen new  members  were  added  to  the  church. 

In  1853  seven  new  missionaries,  five  of  them 
young  women,  joined  the  Mission.  Everything 
promised  well  when  war  broke  out  again  in  the 
surrounding  country.  Mr.  Brooks,  as  the  head 
of  the  Mission,  convinced  that  the  planting  of 
new  mission  stations  would  be  the  most  effective 
method  of  securing  and  preserving  peace  among 
jealous  chiefs,  started  two  new  missions,  one 
quite  a  little  distance  in  the  interior,  which  he 
named  "  Mo-Tappan,"  and  another  on  Sherbro 
Island  called  "  Good  Hope." 

43 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

It  was  another  sad  blow  to  this  Mission  when 
Rev.  Mr.  Condit,  whose  preaching  had  been  at- 
tended with  marked  success,  died  in  1854. 

The  church  at  Kaw-Mendi,  the  original  mis- 
sion station,  now  numbered  ninety-six  members. 
In  January,  1855,  three  more  young  Christian 
women  from  the  United  States  joined  the  Mis- 
sion. There  had  been  thus  far  established  the 
three  central  stations — Kaw-Mendi,  Mo-Tappan, 
and  Good  Hope — and  several  out-stations,  where 
schools  were  kept  by  natives  who  had  been  pre- 
pared by  the  missionaries.  But  it  had  now 
become  evident  that  Kaw-Mendi  was  so  ex- 
tremely perilous  to  health  as  to  make  it  a  duty 
to  distribute  the  missionaries  among  other  and 
healthier  stations. 

In  1856  Rev.  Mr.  Thompson,  after  eight  years 
of  most  faithful  service,  retired  from  the  field. 
This  was  a  great  loss  to  the  missions.  Three 
new  missionaries  were  sent  out  in  1857,  one  of 
them  dying  at  Freetown  before  he  had  arrived 
at  his  mission  station.  Eight  others  joined  the 
missionary  forces  in  1858.  The  death  in  this 
year  of  Mrs.  Brooks  —  a  second  wife  —  who  was 
a  most  efficient  worker  and  who  had  remarkable 
success  in  the  management  of  her  school,  was 
another  severe  blow  to  the  Mission. 

Mr.  Jowett,  a  young  native,  and  Mr.  Johnson, 
44 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

another  native  somewhat  advanced  in  years,  were 
at  this  time  ordained  to  preach  the  gospel,  and 
at  the  beginning  of  1859  four  additional  mis- 
sionaries with  their  wives,  undismayed  by  the 
fact  that  each  year  was  flecked  with  sorrow  by 
the  respective  deaths  of  those  who  had  devoted 
themselves  to  this  work,  gave  new  strength  to 
the  enterprise.  Another  promising  young  native 
also  was  licensed  to  preach  by  the  "  Mendi  Asso- 
ciation." More  than  a  thousand  Mendi  words 
had  been  collected,  defined,  and  reduced  to  writ- 
ing. A  primer  had  been  compiled  and  was  in 
process  of  printing.  A  translation  of  the  Gospels 
had  been  begun.  The  work  at  the  out-stations 
continued. 

Avery  Station,  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles 
southeast  on  the  Bargroo  River,  named  in  com- 
memoration of  the  generous  endowment  of  this 
mission  to  the  amount  of  $100,000  by  Rev. 
Charles  Avery  of  Pittsburg,  Pennsylvania,  es- 
tablished in  1859,  was  particularly  prosperous. 
Within  four  years,  five  missionaries  had  been 
added  to  the  force  to  make  good  the  vacancies 
occasioned  by  death  or  to  take  the  places  of  those 
who  felt  compelled  to  retire. 

Thus  the  years  went  on.  In  1874  Barnabas 
Root,  a  native  of  the  Mendi  country,  was  sent  by 
the  Mission  to  the  United  States  to  prepare  for 

45 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

his  work  among  his  own  people.  Educated  and 
graduated  at  Knox  College  and  Chicago  Theo- 
logical Seminary,  he  returned  to  his  native  land, 
having  given  promise  here  of  a  signally  useful 
career.  He  began  his  work  with  enthusiasm  and 
wisdom,  but  was  soon  stricken  down  by  death. 

It  is  unutterably  sad  to  think  how  many  mis- 
sionaries fell  before  their  work  had  fairly  begun. 
The  results  so  far  as  statistics  may  give  them  in 
this  first  field  of  the  Association  were  about  fifty 
missionaries  heroically  laboring  with  varying  de- 
grees of  success  and  for  longer  or  shorter  terms 
in  five  central  stations  with  other  points  occu- 
pied as  preaching  stations.  The  churches  organ- 
ized lived  and  grew,  and  the  schools  established 
taught  successive  generations  of  youth  the  ele- 
mentary studies  and  the  duties  of  life.  The  first 
sawmill  ever  known  in  western  Africa  was  in 
successful  operation  at  Avery  Station  and  had 
already  paid  for  itself.  It  was  regarded  as  a 
most  useful  adjunct  of  the  Mission. 

The  Association  thus  maintained  the  Mendi 
Mission  for  twenty-seven  years.  White  mission- 
aries fearlessly  followed  each  other  with  a  rapid 
death-rate  surely  facing  them  and  with  many 
consequent  changes  and  interruptions  of  prog- 
ress. That  measureless  holy  influences  were 
created  and  untold  good  was  done  is  evident, 

46 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

but  it  was  at  the  cost  of  many  precious  lives.  In 
view  of  this,  it  was  decided  to  make  trial  of  the 
freedmen  of  America,  educated  and  trained  in  the 
higher  institutions  of  the  Association,  as  mis- 
sionaries. They  could  stand  the  climate,  and  it 
seemed  to  be  a  fitting  thing  that  they  should 
teach  their  own  race  the  way  of  life.  Seventeen 
of  these  in  the  years  1877-8,  thought  to  be  quali- 
fied for  this  work,  took  the  places  of  those  who 
had  recently  withdrawn  from  the  missions  and 
who  had  left  them  greatly  weakened.  It  was 
hoped  that  thus  the  Christianization  of  Africa 
by  ministers  of  African  descent  might  be  so  suc- 
cessful as  to  prove  that  a  way  had  been  found  to 
carry  on  this  missionary  enterprise  without  the 
bitter  experience  of  the  loss  of  so  many  precious 
lives. 

Owing  to  immaturity,  both  of  experience  and  of 
judgment,  the  experiment  was  not  satisfactory. 
The  results  proved  it  to  be  advisable  for  the  As- 
sociation to  return  to  its  former  methods.  It  was 
too  soon  —  then,  at  least ;  the  children  of  the 
freedmen  were  not  far  enough  removed  from 
their  antecedents.  The  last  attainment  in  edu- 
cative development  is  a  wise  administrative  abil- 
ity. Executive  wisdom  is  the  gift  of  long  he- 
redity. It  was  too  much  to  expect  this  fitness 
and  power  in  young  men  not  a  score  of  years 

47 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

out  of  slavery.  The  enthusiasm  of  humanity  with 
a  controlling  consecration  and  with  wise  admin- 
istration does  not  come  at  once  to  an  undeveloped 
people.  The  experiment  would  be  more  hopeful 
now  than  it  was  twenty-five  years  ago. 

In  1882  the  question  of  a  transfer  of  the  for- 
eign work  of  the  Association  in  the  interest  of 
greater  concentration  upon  the  pressing  prob- 
lems of  the  homeland  was  considered,  and  early 
in  the  next  year  the  Mendi  Mission  with  its  five 
mission  stations  and  their  property,  its  mis- 
sionary steamer  used  for  transportation,  and  its 
thirty-five  years  of  history  was  transferred  to  the 
"  United  Brethren,''  who  already  had  an  adjoin- 
ing mission  on  the  West  coast.  Since  that  time 
the  African  missions  under  the  care  of  the  United 
Brethren  have  been  largely  and  successfully 
developed. 


48 


Ill 

FOREIGN   MISSIONS 
IN    VARIOUS   PLACES 


Sandwich  Islands  Mission.  —  West  India  Missions.  — 
Siam  Mission.  —  Rev.  Dan  Beach  Bradley,  m.d.,  Mission- 
ary intelligence.  —  Patriotism.  —  Mission  closed  in  1874. 
—  Five  years  among  the  Copts  in  Egypt.  —  Mission 
among  the  refugees  from  slavery  in  Canada. 


Ill 

FOREIGN    MISSIONS 

IN   VARIOUS  PLACES 

Sandwich  Islands  Mission 

IN  1846  the  Rev.  J.  S.  Green  and  wife,  former 
missionaries  of  the  A.  B,  C.  F.  M.  in  Ma- 
kawao  Maui,  came  under  the  care  of  the 
Association.  The  church,  consisting  entirely  of 
natives  at  this  place,  then  numbered  five  hundred 
and  thirty-nine  members,  with  a  large  and  flour- 
ishing Sunday-school.  The  mission  had  already 
become  self-sustaining,  —  the  first  of  the  kind 
of  which  we  have  heard,  —  and  as  such  was  en- 
tirely successful. 

Three  years  later,  Mr.  Green  writes :  "  As  to 
the  prospects  of  the  people,  I  cannot  conceal  my 
fears.  Not  less  probably  than  one-tenth  of  the 
Hawaiian  nation  have  died  since  October,  1848." 
He  adds :  "  As  a  church  I  am  fully  of  the  opinion 
that  there  is  as  much  consistent  piety  as  in 
most  churches  of  my  acquaintance  in  the  United 
States;  that  Christians  of  the  Sandwich  Islands 
who  some  twenty-five  years  since  were  enveloped 

51 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

in  a  darkness  which  might  be  felt,  who  were 
gross  and  stupid  idolaters,  addicted  to  all  the 
vices  that  disgrace  human  nature,  should  in  such 
short  time  become  alert,  intelligent,  and  in  every 
respect  pure  and  consistent  Christians  would  be 
an  anomaly  in  the  Church  of  Christ.  That  many 
of  them  are  aiming  to  become  thus  I  believe." 

In  confirmation  of  Mr.  Green's  statement  a 
quotation  from  the  Annual  Report  of  1852  says: 
"  The  church,  which  is  self-supporting,  raised  the 
past  year  $800  toward  building  a  place  of  wor- 
ship. It  also  contributes  to  the  antislavery  cause 
in  the  United  States.  One  native  church  has 
sent  $100  to  be  expended  in  a  prize  tract  on  the 
sinfulness  of  American  slavery.  The  interest  of 
these  Christian  Hawaiians  in  behalf  of  the  con- 
version of  the  oppressed  in  our  own  land  is  very 
cheering." 

In  1855  we  read  that  Rev.  Mr.  Green  has  two 
churches  under  his  care  with  an  aggregate  of 
one  thousand  members. 

The  interest  of  the  Association  was  active  in 
the  Sandwich  Islands  until  the  year  1873,  when 
the  Committee  on  Foreign  Missions  at  the  an- 
nual meeting  made  a  report  recommending  with- 
drawal from  the  foreign  field,  since  "  Providence, 
which  had  unmistakably  directed  the  first  work 
to  foreign  missions,  had  of  late  years  directed 

52 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

to  a  concentration  of  effort  in  behalf  of  the  col- 
ored race  in  the  United  States." 


West  India  Missions 

The  missions  among  the  emancipated  negroes 
in  the  Island  of  Jamaica  came  under  the  care  of 
the  Association  in  1847.  They  consisted  of  four 
central  stations  and  three  out-stations.  Year  by 
year  the  reports  expressed  the  hopes  and  fears, 
the  joys  and  trials,  of  mission  life.  In  1851,  for 
example,  one  writes,  "  I  believe  there  never  was 
a  more  important  time  to  work  in  Jamaica  than 
now."  The  enlargement  of  operations  is  strongly 
recommended.  "  There  are  great  destitutions  all 
over  the  island,  and  requests  are  continually  com- 
ing in  to  us  to  establish  new  stations.  We 
must,  however,  have  more  men  if  we  would 
successfully  prosecute  the  work  of  evangelizing 
Jamaica."  Again  in  1853  we  read:  "In  many 
respects  this  field  is  a  hard  one.  The  inheritances 
of  slavery  are  not  easily  overcome;  the  vices 
which  it  engendered  have  still  strong  hold,  and 
the  mission  has  already  realized  that  the  hope 
of  the  future  is  in  the  youth  whom  they  are 
educating  and  training  away  from  the  evils 
which  corrupt  and  destroy."  A  year  later  eight 
churches  and  ten  schools,  with  over  seven  hun- 

53 
/ 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

dred  pupils,  were  reported.  Thus  the  mission 
went  on  as  evangelistic  work  does  and  as  Chris- 
tian schools  do,  gaining  little  by  little  upon  the 
ignorance  and  hereditary  vices  of  the  poor  people 
whose  hard  lot  in  slavery  left  them  not  greatly 
better  than  their  ancestors  in  Africa.  But  dur- 
ing all  this  steady,  patient,  and  inconspicuous 
service,  others  besides  the  black  people  of  Ja- 
maica were  being  educated.  Though  at  the  time 
they  comprehended  it  not,  all  this  process  and 
experience  with  schools  and  churches  was  pre- 
paring the  Association  and  its  officers  for  the 
greater  mission  which  was  in  the  womb  of  the 
future  and  to  be  born  in  the  fulness  of  time. 
There  is  a  science  of  missions  which  comes  by 
observation  and  experience  extending  through 
the  years.  The  thoughts  and  plans  of  mission- 
ary workers,  their  tentative  endeavors,  successes 
and  failures,  are  the  material  out  of  which  this 
science  is  evolved.  The  lessons  of  non-success 
and  the  reasons  which  appear  in  practical  expe- 
rience are  sometimes  as  useful  in  the  way  of 
caution  and  teaching  what  may  not  be  under- 
taken, as  are  the  lessons  of  achievement  which 
indicate  the  methods  of  a  wise  and  energetic 
development.  The  missions  among  the  emanci- 
pated blacks  of  Jamaica  were  rich  in  lessons,  both 
negative  and  positive,  which  were  to  make  the  As- 

54 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

sociation  a  providential  agency  when  God's  pur- 
poses should  ripen ;  and  they  were  ripening  fast. 
The  mission  was  continued  until  1873,  when  the 
schools  were  made  over  to  the  government  of 
Jamaica.  Later  the  churches  were  transferred 
to  the  watch  and  care  of  the  Baptist  denomina- 
tion, and  the  Association  withdrew  from  the 
island. 

Siam  Mission 

The  Siam  mission  was  adopted  in  1848  by  a 
curious  kind  of  transfer  from  the  American 
Board.  Rev.  Dan  Beach  Bradley,  m.d.,  who 
had  been  a  missionary  of  the  American'  Board 
in  Siam,  but  whose  "  views  were  thought  to  be 
incompatible  "  with  that  body,  explained  to  the 
Association  the  inharmonious  relations  of  himself 
and  his  associate,  Rev.  Jesse  Caswell,  with  it,  and 
gave  an  interesting  history  of  the  mission.  That 
the  Association  did  not  consider  the  "  heresies  " 
dangerous,  appears  from  the  adoption  of  the  fol- 
lowing resolution :  "  Resolved,  That  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  mission  at  Siam,  and  the  accept- 
ance by  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  service 
of  our  esteemed  brethren,  Messrs.  Bradley  and 
Caswell,  meet  with  the  full  approbation  of  the 
Association;  that  it  be  recommended  to  the  Ex- 
ecutive   Committee   to    sustain    this    interesting 

55 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

Mission."  Letters  from  the  Prudential  Commit- 
tee of  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  highly  commendatory 
of  these  brethren  and  dismissing  them  from  con- 
nection with  the  Board,  made  allusion  to  the 
alleged  "  doctrinal  errors  "  which  in  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Board  ended  their  usefulness  as 
missionaries  in  Siam.  It  will  be  interesting  in 
this  year  of  our  Lord  to  know  what  was  so 
objectionable  as  to  warrant  this  action.  It  is 
contained  in  the  statement  of  Mr.  Caswell,  to 
which  Dr.  Bradley  gave  his  substantial  assent, 
adding  that  since  he  had  come  to  this  country 
he  had  been  led  to  question  the  propriety  of 
infant  baptism.  He  thought  the  "  Biblical  au- 
thority "  for  this  rite  "  somewhat  doubtful."  He 
frankly  informed  the  Executive  Committee  that 
the  separation  from  the  American  Board  was 
"  not  from  choice,  nor  made  until  it  had  been 
requested."     The  statement  is  as  follows :  — 

I  believe  and  teach  that  the  provisions  of  grace  are 
such  as  to  authorize  the  Christian  to  look  to  Christ 
with  the  confident  hope  and  expectation  of  receiving 
all  the  aid  he  needs  to  enable  him  to  do  all  the  will 
of  God,  or,  in  other  words,  to  love  God  with  all  his 
heart  and  his  neighbor  as  himself.  Consequently,  I 
do  not,  as  some  suppose,  set  aside  the  grace  of  Christ 
or  the  constant  dependence  on  that  grace.  Whatever 
available  power  to  obey  God  we  have  is  a  free  gift 
of  his  grace. 

56 


Rev.  Dan  B.  Bradley,  M.D.,  Missionary  to  Siam 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

I  believe  that  the  answer  to  the  149th  question  in 
the  "  Larger  Catechism,"  which  says,  "  No  mere  man 
is  able  either  by  himself  or  by  any  grace  received  in 
this  life  perfectly  to  keep  the  commands  of  God,  but 
doth  daily  break  them  in  thought,  word,  and  deed," 
goes  beyond  what  can  be  proved  by  the  Bible. 

While  I  have  not  thought  that  any  actually  have 
attained  or  will  attain  in  this  life  to  a  state  of  entire 
and  continued  exemption  from  sin,  I  believe  that  to 
affirm  the  converse  of  this  proposition  is  going  be- 
yond what  we  have  Scripture  authority  for  so  doing. 

The  Association  felt  that  if  there  were  no 
greater  heresies  than  these,  there  was  no  dis- 
qualification for  missionary  service,  and  Dr. 
Bradley  returned  to  work  with  his  colleague. 

Siam  proper,  at  whose  capital,  Bangkok,  the 
mission  was  created,  comprised  about  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  square  miles,  and  had  then  a  pop- 
ulation of  about  four  million  people  who  spoke 
twelve  different  languages  and  formed  as  many- 
different  classes.  The  prevailing  religion  of 
Buddhism  challenged  all  the  faith  and  courage 
of  those  who  sought  to  displace  it  with  the  gospel, 
but  these  brethren,  strong  in  the  faith  that  the 
gospel  of  Christ  is  the  true  power  of  God  unto 
salvation,  under  this  new  society,  which  was  not 
afraid  of  their  theological  errors,  went  cheerfully 
to  their  work. 

The  new  year  had  scarcely  opened  when  the 
57 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

tidings  came  of  Mr.  Caswell's  death.  Three 
months  after  he  had  received  the  notice  of  his 
appointment  and  while  the  thanksgivings  of  the 
Association  for  the  gift  of  so  .valuable  a  mis- 
sionary were  being  expressed,  he  was  suddenly 
called  to  higher  service  in  the  heavenly  world. 
Dr.  Bradley  wrote,  "  While  I  have  had  moments 
of  feeling  that  I  should  sink  under  this  last  bil- 
low of  sorrow,  yet  my  head  has  been  kept  above 
its  crest  by  a  present  service." 

The  letters  of  Dr.  Bradley,  published  from 
time  to  time  in  The  American  Missionary,  are 
models  of  missionary  intelligence,  describing  the 
climate,  soil,  physical  characteristics,  and  prod- 
ucts of  the  country,  the  people,  their  dress,  their 
dwellings,  their  streets,  their  habits  of  thought, 
their  methods  of  life,  their  schools,  their  indus- 
tries, the  mines  and  minerals,  and  whatever  is 
peculiar  to  Siam,  with  the  moral  and  religious 
conditions  and  capabilities.  They  are  intensely 
interesting  reading  for  their  vivid  expression  and 
literary  excellence,  now  after  the  events  which 
he  so  graphically  pictured  are  three-score  years 
away.  In  his  pleading  for  missionary  aid,  for 
example,  he  writes :  "  True,  it  is  a  long  way  from 
our  native  land,  but  it  is  rapidly  becoming  nearer 
every  year.  When  the  Oregon  railroad  is  done 
it  will  be  within  thirty-live  days  of  New  York! 

58 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS 

And  when  our  telegraph  wires  are  made  to  cross 
Behring  Strait,  we  can  hold  converse  with  our 
friends  by  lightning  power." 

His  letters  are  most  optimistic  also  as  to 
the  religious  future  of  Siam,  but  he  confesses 
at  the  same  time  that  his  hopes  do  not  rest 
in  any  marked  visible  results.  "  It  seems  to 
me,"  he  writes  in  1851,  "that  the  truths  of  the 
gospel  are  spreading  and  increasing  the  light, 
and  my  confidence  that  now  God  is  going  to 
perform  a  great  work  here  does  not  fail  me." 
At  the  same  time  he  adds,  "  I  am  not  aware  that 
any  of  my  hearers  for  the  last  seven  or  eight 
months  have  been  brought  into  the  kingdom." 

In  1852  the  mission  reports  "  great  encour- 
agement." Dr.  Bradley  has  been  made  physi- 
cian to  the  king  and  the  royal  family,  and  has 
preached  to  several  large  assemblies  within  the 
palace  walls ;  at  the  same  time  the  mission  labors 
without  much  apparent  success. 

An  illustration  of  the  spirit  of  Dr.  Bradley 
is  seen  in  a  quotation  from  his  letter  to  the 
Association  dated  Bangkok,  Siam,  August  19, 
1863:- 

I  wish  to  devote  $300  of  the  enclosed  draft  as  a 
small  item  of  aid  to  our  government  in  carrying  on 
the  war  for  crushing  out  that  atrocious  rebellion. 
My  whole  heart  ascends  to  God  in  prayer  continu- 

59 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

ally  for  our  war  cause.  Please  pay  over  to  the  War 
Department  as  soon  as  you  well  can  the  sum  above 
named. 

I  have  a  son  in  his  twentieth  year  who  would,  I 
doubt  not,  enlist  as  a  volunteer  in  the  army  if  he  were 
living  in  the  States.  And  I  feel  that  in  such  a  case 
I  should  not  dare  to  do  anything  to  withhold  him 
from  it.  He  as  well  as  myself  and  his  mother  con- 
sider $300  as  a  very  cheap  substitute  for  his  services 
in  the  army  one  year. 

For  twenty-six  years  this  mission,  with  six 
devoted  missionaries  most  of  the  time,  labored 
on  in  hope  and  in  disappointment.  Ten  years 
had  passed  when  The  American  Missionary  re- 
ported, "  We  doubt  whether  an  amount  of  mis- 
sionary labor  equal  to  what  has  been  employed 
in  Siam  has  ever  before  been  expended  with  so 
little  visible  result,"  and  yet  the  same  pages  said, 
"  Siam  as  a  missionary  field  is  at  the  present  more 
inviting  than  it  has  ever  been."  During  the 
entire  period  the  work  in  Siam  continued  after 
this  manner,  characterized  by  consecrated  ability, 
fidelity,  and  patience,  and  with  little  apparent 
result,  when  Dr.  Bradley  died  in  1874  and  his 
son,  the  only  male  missionary  remaining,  re- 
turned to  this  country,  and  the  Siam  Mission  was 
closed. 


60 


FOREIGN   MISSIONS 


Among  the  Copts  in  Egypt 

A  mission  among  the  Copts  was  undertaken  in 
1854.  It  did  not  prove  to  be  hopeful,  and  after 
five  years  was  discontinued.  In  1859  it  was 
taken  up  by  the  United  Presbyterians. 


Canada  Mission 

In  1848  the  Association  followed  the  slave 
refugees  into  Canada.  Fugitives  in  great  num- 
bers who  had  settled  here  and  there  in  Canada 
were  distressingly  poor  and  pitiably  ignorant. 
The  most  reliable  estimates  of  the  number  of 
these  fugitives  who  had  reached  Canada  desti- 
tute and  in  want  of  all  things  placed  them  at 
about  forty  thousand.  Schools  were  established 
for  these,  and  teachers  for  them  were  sent  from 
the  States.  Several  little  churches  were  organ- 
ized, one  of  them  reporting  one  hundred  mem- 
bers and  another  sixty-one. 

After  twelve  years  of  this  endeavor  we  read 
in  the  Annual  Report  of  i860:  "  Missionary  labor 
has  accomplished  all  that  under  the  circumstances 
could  reasonably  be  expected,  and  is  an  encour- 
agement to  increased  efforts  to  supply  these  fugi- 
tives with  educational  and  religious  advantages. 

61 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Good  schools  and  a  faithful  ministry  ought  to 
be  liberally  sustained." 

In  1863  the  supreme  demand  of  the  newly 
emancipated  slaves  claimed  and  almost  absorbed 
the  care  and  the  strength  of  the  Association  and 
made  the  withdrawal  from  this  work  in  Canada 
a  strategic  missionary  necessity. 


62 


IV 

MISSION    AMONG   THE   NORTH 
AMERICAN    INDIANS 


Mission  among  the  O  jib  was  in  the  Territory  of  Min- 
nesota, Red  Lake,  Cass  Lake,  and  Lake  Winnipeg;  the 
Ottawas  at  Grand  Traverse  Bay,  Michigan.  —  New  In- 
dian policy  in  1870  through  Gen.  U.  S.  Grant,  President 
of  the  United  States.  —  The  Board  of  Peace  Commis- 
sioners. —  Rev.  E.  P.  Smith  given  general  supervision 
of  the  Association's  Indian  Missions.  —  Great  improve- 
ment among  the  tribes.  —  Transfer  of  the  Indian  Mis- 
sions in  the  great  Sioux  Reservation  in  Dakota  Territory 
by  the  A.  B.  C.  F.  M.  to  the  Association  in  exchange  for 
African  Missions.  —  Development  of  educational  work 
under  Rev.  A.  L.  Riggs,  d.d.,  at  Santee,  Nebraska,  and 
at  Oahe  under  Rev.  T.  L.  Riggs,  d.d.  —  Missions  at  Fort 
Berthold  under  Rev.  Charles  L.  Hall.  —  Missions  minis- 
tered unto  by  Miss  Mary  C.  Collins.  —  Rosebud.  —  Fort 
Yates.  —  The  story  of  Yellow  Hawk.  —  Testimonies  of 
Rev.  Mary  C.  Collins  as  to  results  in  twenty-five  years, 
and  of  Dr.  Thomas  L.  Riggs  upon  the  changed  and 
changing  conditions  of  the  Indian  tribes  and  the  causes 
of  these  changes. 


IV 

MISSION   AMONG  THE  NORTH  AMERICAN 
INDIANS 

WHILE  these  events  were  transpiring  in 
foreign  lands,  earnest  attention  was 
given  to  Indian  missions  in  our  own 
country.  These  could  scarcely  be  designated  as 
"  foreign,"  and  yet  they  were  not  embraced  in 
what  was  called  "  The  Home  Department."  In 
the  second  Annual  Report  of  the  Association, 
1847,  we  read  of  the  "  new  work  among  the 
Ojibwa  or  Chippewa  Indians  in  the  reservations 
of  the  Territory  of  Minnesota."  These  were 
a  part  of  the  Algonquin  race,  one  of  the  two 
most  powerful  races  of  the  continent.  Their  lan- 
guage was  remarkable  as  being  singularly  per- 
fect and  euphonic,  with  some  striking  analogies 
to  the  Hebrew. 

At  the  Red  Lake  Station  there  were  six  hun- 
dred Indians,  about  one-half  of  whom  were 
under  sixteen  years  of  age.  They  were  cultivat- 
ing one  hundred  and  fifty  acres  of  land  and  had 
harvested  within  the  year  more  than  two  thou- 
sand bushels  of  corn  and  fourteen  hundred 
5  65 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

bushels  of  potatoes,  besides  other  products  of 
their  garden.  The  Indian  families  had  also 
made  an  average  of  from  four  hundred  to  five 
hundred  pounds  of  sugar  each.  There  were 
eight  native  members  of  the  church. 

In  the  Cass  Lake  Station,  the  whole  number 
of  Indians  was  two  hundred.  "  When  the  sta- 
tion was  commenced  in  the  spring  of  1846,  but 
four  or  five  families  planted  their  grounds. 
Nearly  all  depended  on  the  precarious  supply 
of  wild  rice  which  they  could  gather  from  the 
swamps  along  the  margin  of  the  lake." 

In  a  few  years  twenty-five  families  had  their 
little  fields  of  corn  and  several  of  them  had 
builded  houses  for  their  families.  Some  chil- 
dren from  every  family  were  in  the  well-attended 
school.  In  1857  these  missions,  owing  to  diffi- 
culties among  the  Indians  and  the  disturbed  con- 
dition of  the  country,  were  removed  from  the 
reservation  to  the  west  shore  of  Lake  Winnipeg. 
Two  years  later,  letters  from  the  mission  in- 
dicated that  the  missionaries  were  rapidly  com- 
ing to  the  conclusion  that  after  thirteen  years 
the  discouragements  had  become  so  great  that 
this  particular  field  should  be  relinquished. 

At  the  same  time  the  Association  took  under 
its  care  a  mission  among  the  Ojibwas  and  the 
Ottawas  in  the  northwestern  part  of  Michigan  at 

66 


NORTH  AMERICAN   INDIANS 

Grand  Traverse  Bay.  The  church  consisted  of 
fifty-eight  members,  seven  of  them  being  whites. 
This  mission  continued  until  1869. 

In  1870  a  new  Indian  policy  and  work  was 
inaugurated.  President  Grant  has  the  honor  of 
being  the  first  chief  magistrate  of  the  nation  to 
propose  citizenship  for  the  Indians.  He  had  the 
sagacity  to  see  that  the  Indians  could  never  hope 
to  attain  to  the  degree  of  civilization  essential 
to  citizenship  under  the  conditions  which  then 
existed.  In  his  inaugural  address  he  had  fore- 
shadowed his  policy.  "  The  proper  treatment  of 
the  original  occupants  of  the  land  —  the  Indians 
—  is  one  deserving  careful  study.  I  will  favor 
any  course  toward  them  which  tends  to  their 
civilization  and  ultimate  citizenship." 

Up  to  that  time  for  scores  of  years  the  tutorage 
by  agents  and  speculators  in  the  schools  of  fraud 
and  whisky  had  well-nigh  destroyed  all  the  efforts 
of  the  schools  and  churches  and  missionaries  to 
introduce  a  policy  of  truth,  justice,  humanity,  and 
peace.  To  set  on  foot  a  system  of  education  and 
reform  was  one  of  the  acts  of  President  Grant's 
administration  to  be  remembered.  It  was  the 
beginning  of  a  new  day  for  the  Indian.  The  first 
movement  was  the  appointment,  under  an  act  of 
Congress,  of  a  Board  of  Peace  Commissioners 
composed  of  men  from   different  parts  of  the 

67 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

country  whose  names  carried  the  assurance  of 
wisdom  and  honesty.  The  next  step  was  to  in- 
vite the  cooperation  of  Christian  missionary  so- 
cieties, and  to  give  to  them  the  selection  of  Indian 
agents  under  whom  the  appointment  of  govern- 
ment teachers,  physicians,  carpenters,  and  black- 
smiths provided  for  by  treaty  was  made.  The 
American  Missionary  Association  was  requested 
to  select  from  these  agents,  and  was  the  first  to 
accept  and  adopt  the  new  work  offered.  The 
appointments  and  assignments  were  as  follows: 
Rev.  E.  P.  Smith,  Agent  of  the  Chippewas  of 
the  Mississippi;  Rev.  S.  M.  Clark,  Agent  of  the 
Chippewas  of  the  Superior ;  Rev.  W.  T.  Richard- 
son, Agent  of  the  Menomonees  and  Oneidas  in 
Wisconsin;  Edwin  Eells,  Agent  of  the  Skoko- 
mish  Indians  in  Washington  Territory.  Rev.  E. 
P.  Smith  held  the  position  of  secretary  of  the 
Indian  missions  with  the  general  supervision  of 
this  work  of  the  Association  among  the  Indians. 
At  the  commencement  of  this  policy  to  reclaim 
the  Indians  from  their  wandering,  savage  life, 
and  to  turn  their  thoughts  away  from  cruel  pas- 
sions toward  peace  and  good-will,  not  one  family 
in  fifty,  the  Oneidas  excepted,  were  living  in 
houses,  and  even  these  who  were  thus  sheltered 
had  no  land  to  which  they  had  any  title.  Nearly 
all  were  living  in  blankets  and  wigwams. 

68 


NORTH  AMERICAN   INDIANS 

In  1872  the  four  Indian  agencies  had  become 
seven:  the  Chippewa  in  Minnesota,  Lake  Supe- 
rior and  Green  Bay  in  Wisconsin,  Fort  Berth- 
old  and  Sisseton  in  Dakota  Territory,  Skokomish 
in  Washington  Territory,  and  the  "  Mission  In- 
dians "  in  California.  These  agencies  contin- 
ued for  ten  years,  which  were,  on  the  whole, 
years  of  great  advancement  for  all  the  tribes, 
though  after  the  administration  of  General  Grant 
had  passed,  there  was  less  sympathetic  coopera- 
tion with  the  missionary  societies  in  the  Depart- 
ment of  the  Interior  at  Washington.  In  the 
thirty-fifth  Annual  Report  of  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee we  read :  "  The  peace  policy  of  General 
Grant,  which  was  continued  by  President  Hayes, 
has  been  productive  of  great  and  lasting  good 
to  the  Indians,  but  .  .  .  reasons  have  served  to 
diminish  the  interest  once  taken  by  the  officials 
at  Washington  in  the  cooperation  of  the  religious 
bodies." 

The  year  1882  marked  a  significant  advance 
in  the  Indian  missions  of  the  Association  when 
it  transferred  the  mission  in  Africa  to  the  Ameri- 
can Board,  and  took  on  the  mission  in  Dakota 
and  Nebraska,  which  the  American  Board  had 
formerly  maintained. 

Two  problems  which  immediately  presented 
themselves  were  the  development  of  the  educa- 

69 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

tional  work  which  has  its  center  at  Santee,  Ne- 
braska, under  Rev.  A.  L.  Riggs,  d.d.,  the  head 
of  a  school  which  numbered  one  hundred  pupils 
of  both  sexes  and  all  ages;  and  the  extension 
of  the  evangelizing  work  which  had  its  main 
center  at  Oahe  in  Dakota,  under  the  superin- 
tendence of  Rev.  Thomas  L.  Riggs,  d.d.  The 
whole  Sioux  tribe  of  twenty-five  thousand  souls 
had  received  but  comparatively  little  missionary 
attention.  At  Santee  the  Indians,  under  the  ten 
years  of  successful  mission  work  of  the  American 
Board,  had  accepted  Christianity  and  maintained 
a  church  with  more  than  two  hundred  members 
presided  over  by  a  native  Indian  pastor.  They 
were  settled  on  their  farms  and  were  developing 
in  intelligence  and  enterprise.  At  Oahe,  two  hun- 
dred miles  up  the  Missouri  River  from  Santee, 
and  near  the  center  from  north  to  south  of  the 
great  Sioux  Reservation,  some  twenty-five  In- 
dian families  had  settled  as  home  traders.  These 
also  had  become  Christians  and  conducted  their 
meetings  with  fervor  and  decorum.  Beyond  these 
two  stations,  the  Indians  in  their  encampments, 
in  their  natural  conditions  untamed,  and  but  re- 
cently off  from  the  war-path,  dwelt  in  tents  and 
log  huts,  wholly  ignorant  of  agriculture,  and  fed 
by  the  rations  of  the  government.  They  ap- 
peared, however,  to  be  willing  to  learn  farming 

70 


NORTH  AMERICAN   INDIANS 

and  desirous  to  know  more  of  "  the  white  man's 
ways."  From  these  two  centers  there  seemed  to 
be  in  the  situation  a  strong  appeal  for  enlarge- 
ment of  mission  work. 

Beyond  the  great  Sioux  Reservation  at  the 
northern  edge  of  Dakota  Territory,  almost  to 
the  British  line,  was  Fort  Berthold,  under  the 
care  of  Rev.  Charles  L.  Hall.  Here  were  three 
different  tribes  speaking  entirely  different  tongues 
from  that  of  the  Dakota  Sioux  who  had  been  for 
years  their  bitter  foes.  As  yet  they  were  unin- 
fluenced by  Christian  instruction,  though  some 
of  them  had  made  a  beginning  in  the  way  of 
agriculture.  Outside  of  these  mission  stations 
the  barbarism  and  rudeness  of  life  cannot  well 
be  understood  by  those  who  have  not  seen  it. 
This  was  the  condition  of  the  Indian  fields  and 
work  when  the  Association  entered  upon  its  new 
duties  in  1882. 

An  immediate  advance  was  made  in  missionary 
endeavor  at  Santee  Normal  Training  School  and 
at  Oahe.  New  buildings  were  constructed  and 
a  large  number  of  instructors  appointed.  New 
stations  also  were  undertaken  in  different  locali- 
ties. Miss  Mary  C.  Collins  was  transferred 
to  the  special  charge  of  the  mission  at  Grand 
River.  Rev.  James  F.  Cross  was  appointed  to 
a   new  mission  at   Rosebud   Station,   and   Rev. 

7i 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

George  W.  Reed  to  Standing  Rock,  otherwise 
called  Fort  Yates.  These  were  new  recruits 
from  Yale  and  Hartford  Theological  Seminaries. 
Many  new  out-stations  both  for  white  and  for 
native  teachers  were  soon  entered  upon,  several 
native  churches  were  organized,  and  buildings 
were  erected  for  them.  Thence  onward  as  before, 
the  Riggs  brothers  patiently  and  quietly  have 
devoted  their  lives.  The  young  men  —  now  no 
longer  young  —  have  seen  great  transformations 
in  the  quarter  century  of  their  missionary  con- 
secration. Miss  Collins'  teaching  and  ministry 
have  been  of  most  effective  and  heroic  service. 
The  Indian  work  has  been  out  of  sight,  and  has 
not  been  greatly  heralded,  but  the  Indian  friends 
have  not  been  ignorant  of  the  faithful  efforts 
made  to  save  the  wild  tribes  of  the  original  in- 
habitants of  our  country.  No  adequate  recog- 
nition can  be  made  of  the  moral  and  spiritual 
results  of  such  a  life-work  as  that  of  the  Riggs 
brothers  and  their  equally  devoted  wives,  or  of  the 
noble  consecration  of  Miss  M.  C.  Collins,  or  of 
the  quarter  century  of  faithful  and  earnest  work 
of  the  missionaries  Hall,  Reed,  and  Cross  in  their 
isolated  stations. 

Twenty-six  years  have  passed  since  the  trans- 
fer of  the  Indian  missions  from  the  American 
Board  to  the  Association.    The  years  have  been 

72 


NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS 

largely  those  of  readjustment,  and  the  settling 
into  place  on  the  part  of  the  tribes.  The  uncon- 
scious movement  toward  civilization  has  made  it 
hard  for  the  native  Christian  Indian  to  keep  up 
with  the  steadily  advancing  procession,  yet,  writes 
Dr.  Thomas  L.  Riggs,  "  The  Christian  Indian 
is  the  only  man  of  them  all  who  anywhere  near 
keeps  his  place  and  holds  fast  what  he  has.  The 
pace  is  more  rapid  than  ever  before."  The  work 
is,  and  doubtless  will  be,  full  of  difficulties  that 
often  try  the  faith  and  patience  of  these  devoted 
missionaries;  at  the  same  time  it  is  rewarded 
with  encouragements  that  cause  them  to  say, 
"  We  are  more  than  thankful  that  it  has  been 
given  us  to  live  and  be  a  part  of  it." 

The  story  of  "  Yellow  Hawk,"  as  told  by  Gen. 
Charles  H.  Howard,  while  it  may  not  be  repre- 
sentative of  all  Indians,  is  typical  of  very  many. 
In  1872  Dr.  Thomas  L.  Riggs  with  General 
Howard  drove  to  Yellow  Hawk's  village.  "  We 
found  the  tall  young  chief  standing  by  his  log 
cabin.  He  was  idle  and  listless  in  aspect,  in- 
dustry and  education  being  the  farthest  from  his 
thoughts.  He  had  on  blanket  and  leggings,  and 
the  partings  of  his  hair  were  painted  yellow; 
otherwise  his  features  and  expression  were  of 
the  better  Indian  type. 

"  Five  years  later,  in  the  autumn  of  1877,  I 

73 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

landed  from  a  steamboat  at  Peoria  Bottom,  to- 
gether with  Dr.  Stephen  R.  Riggs,  Dr.  Alfred 
L.  Riggs,  and  a  number  of  others,  who  had  come 
to  attend  the  '  Annual  Mission  Meeting '  of  the 
Dakota  Indian  churches,  held  for  the  first  time 
in  this  Teton  country.  Delegates  had  come  over- 
land from  the  Sisseton  tribe,  on  the  Minnesota 
border,  some  two  hundred  and  thirty  miles  dis- 
tant, and  others  had  come  up  from  the  Flandreau 
settlements,  and  from  Yankton  and  the  Santee 
agencies,  three  hundred  miles  away. 

"  It  is  not  within  the  purpose  of  this  sketch 
to  describe  this  meeting,  though  it  was  in  its 
encampment  and  Indian  customs  picturesque  and 
interesting.  One  of  the  discussions,  conducted 
wholly  in  the  Dakota  tongue,  related  to  marriage, 
and  was  suggested  by  the  fact  that  some  of  the 
candidates  for  church-membership  had  more  than 
one  wife.  Yellow  Hawk  had  three  wives,  though 
Spotted  Bear,  another  chief,  had  but  one.  It 
was  decided,  after  sympathetic  considering  of  all 
the  difficulties,  that  the  candidate  must  be  mar- 
ried in  Christian  fashion  to  one  of  the  wives, 
and  that  he  was  to  put  away  the  others,  but  see 
to  their  support. 

"  I  again  saw  Yellow  Hawk.  Five  years  older, 
he  had  greatly  changed  in  looks.  He  was  now 
wearing    citizen's    clothes,    could    read,    having 

74 


T.  L.  Riggs,  LL.D. 


NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS 

learned  with  some  seventeen  others  of  the  adult 
Indians  in  a  night  school,  the  first  winter  it  was 
established.  He  attended  some  of  the  meetings 
and  was  reading  his  Bible.  He  had  a  fairly 
good  field  of  corn,  and  had  begun  to  show  a 
disposition  to  work. 

"  Mr.  Riggs  had  secured  the  survey  of  the 
bottom  lands  for  the  purpose  of  settling  the  In- 
dians upon  farms.  In  1880,  as  soon  as  the  sur- 
vey was  filed,  Mr.  Riggs  went  with  two  of  the 
chiefs,  Yellow  Hawk  and  Spotted  Bear,  to  the 
land  office  at  Springfield,  near  Yankton,  and 
assisted  them  in  making  homestead  entries.  The 
United  States  registrar  thought  he  had  no  right 
to  accept  the  filing  of  an  Indian,  and  so  the 
party  went  to  the  United  States  judge  of  the 
district,  and  the  two  Indians  were  regularly 
naturalized.  This  was  a  novel  thing  for  one 
who  was  American-born,  and  whose  ancestors 
had  been  natives  of  the  country.  Since  then  it 
has  been  decided  officially  to  be  unnecessary. 
Twenty-one  other  homestead  entries  were  sub- 
sequently made  by  these  Indians  on  Peoria 
Bottom. 

"  In  1882  my  duties  as  Indian  Inspector 
brought  me  again  in  this  vicinity,  and  I  saw 
Yellow  Hawk  and  Spotted  Bear.  They  both  had 
become  members  of  the  church  which  had  been 

75 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

organized  here  in  1879.  Two  of  Yellow  Hawk's 
wives  had  died  —  one  some  years  before  —  and 
he  was  formally  married  to  the  one  remaining 
at  the  time  he  united  with  the  church.  Any 
other  candidates  who  had  more  than  one  wife 
followed  the  rule  mentioned,  and  were  married 
to  the  one  who  had  been  the  first  wife,  and  kindly 
cared  for  the  other  or  others.  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  it  should  be  stated  that  there  was  not  gen- 
erally a  plurality  of  wives  among  these  Indians. 
The  greater  number  had  but  one  wife. 

"  At  the  time  of  this  visit,  ten  years  after  my 
first  meeting  with  Yellow  Hawk,  I  heard  him 
lead  in  prayer  in  the  chapel,  and  also  saw  him 
in  his  field  riding  a  mower  which  he  had  bought. 
He  had  also  acquired  some  cattle. 

"  My  next  opportunity  for  observing,  in  this 
personal  way,  the  effect  of  missionary  teaching, 
was  in  the  winter  of  1885,  when  Yellow  Hawk 
accompanied  Mr.  Riggs  in  a  tour  through  New 
England,  visiting  the  churches  and  public  meet- 
ings, and  presenting  the  cause  of  Indian  Mis- 
sions. Yellow  Hawk  made  his  own  talk,  and 
Mr.  Riggs  interpreted.  Great  indeed  was  the 
contrast  between  the  appearance  of  the  blanket 
Indian  I  had  seen  leaning  against  his  cabin  in 
1872,  and  Yellow  Hawk  in  1885  as  he  now  stood 
on  the  platform,  erect,  manly,  addressing  cul- 

76 


NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS 

tured  audiences,  and  telling  what  he  and  his 
people  had  been,  and  what  the  gospel  had  done 
for  him." 

At  the  present  writing,  over  twenty-one  years 
later,  Yellow  Hawk  and  Spotted  Bear  each  holds 
the  position  of  pastor  to  a  native  church  and  mis- 
sionary station,  elected  by  the  members.  Among 
these  Indians  pertaining  to  the  Cheyenne  River 
Agency,  Dr.  Thomas  L.  Riggs  has  at  the  pres- 
ent time  eight  organized  churches  under  his 
charge.  His  work  has  also  been  extended  north- 
ward about  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  miles 
to  Grand  River,  where  Miss  M.  C.  Collins,  who 
was  formerly  with  him  here  at  Oahe,  has  been 
laboring  efficiently  for  many  years  and  where  she 
has  now  under  her  care  five  stations  among  the 
followers  of  Sitting  Bull.  On  this  same  reserva- 
tion (Standing  Rock)  farther  north  are  also  five 
stations  under  the  care  of  Rev.  G.  W.  Reed. 

The  similar  gospel  work  among  the  large 
tribes  of  the  Rosebud  Reservation,  located  one 
hundred  and  fifty  miles  to  the  southwest,  has 
greatly  prospered.  Dr.  T.  L.  Riggs  now  has 
the  supervision  of  finding  native  helpers  for  these 
tribes,  Rev.  J.  F.  Cross,  formerly  in  charge,  hav- 
ing been  transferred  to  Alaska. 

I  have  asked  these  missionaries  to  give  me 
their  own  estimates  of  the  results  of  these  patient 

77 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

years.  Those  of  Rev.  Mary  C.  Collins  and  of 
Dr.  Thomas  L.  Riggs  may  stand  for  all.  Says 
Miss  Collins,  "  When  the  Indians  were  without 
Christ  it  needed  a  standing  army  to  control  them. 
The  banks  of  the  Missouri  River  were  dotted  with 
military  posts,  and  thousands  of  soldiers  were 
stationed  along  its  banks,  well-armed  with  rifles, 
and  ready  at  a  moment's  warning  to  go  after 
hostile  Indians  who  were  committing  severe 
depredations  among  the  early  settlers  or  upon 
other  tribes.  This  has  all  practically  passed 
away.  One  after  another  the  forts  were  aban- 
doned as  churches  increased.  The  last  to  go  was 
the  one  on  this  Standing  Rock  Agency.  Thus 
the  missionaries  are  saving  to  the  government 
millions  of  dollars.  The  old  restlessness  of  the 
tribes  is  passing  away;  they  are  settling  down  on 
their  own  allotted  lands  and  building  up  homes, 
and  the  little  children  are  no  longer  happy  in 
the  roving  life,  but  when  night  comes  cry  for 
home.  Nothing  could  have  brought  about  this 
change  but  the  religion  of  Christ.  For  scores 
of  years  the  military  tried  to  subdue  the  people 
and  it  was  impossible.  But  when  the  churches 
took  up  the  matter  in  earnest  and  we  placed  the 
Bible  in  the  homes  and  taught  the  people  to 
read  it,  the  story  of  Jesus  with  his  love  and 
wonderful  power  won  their  hearts,  and  many 

78 


NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS 

have  bowed  in  submission  to  the  laws  of  man, 
because  they  accord  with  the  laws  of  God.  The 
building  of  a  church  and  beside  it  a  Y.  M.  C.  A. 
house,  makes  a  social  as  well  as  a  religious 
center;  and  the  Christian  influence  going  out 
from  it  causes  a  wild  and  insubordinate  race 
of  people  to  become  gentle,  kind,  and  industri- 
ous. They  cannot  pray  to  the  heavenly  Father 
daily  without  being  uplifted  to  a  better  life. 

"  Where  the  wigwam  was  the  only  home,  and 
wild  deer  and  the  buffalo  the  only  larder,  we 
find  now  the  two-  or  three-room  cabin,  the  well- 
washed  floor,  the  neat  beds  and  pillows.  We 
find  the  cellar  in  the  side  stored  with  potatoes 
and  other  vegetables,  corn  and  oats  in  the  stable 
ready  for  the  patient  steed  that  must  round  up 
the  flocks  or  draw  freight  for  the  government 
to  earn  their  daily  bread.  For  years  these  people 
were  fed  by  the  government  and  cared  for  by  the 
United  States  Army,  but  the  government  could 
not  civilize  them,  and  only  as  fast  as  the  mis- 
sionaries could  reach  and  teach  them  were  they 
subdued. 

"  Our  mission  schools  have  sent  out  hundreds 
of  young  men  and  women  to  act  as  living,  work- 
ing object-lessons  among  the  people  from  every 
tribe.  These  Christian  fathers  and  mothers,  home- 
makers  and  home-keepers,  teachers  and  minis- 

79 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

ters,  doctors  and  lawyers,  all  owe  their  present 
honored  and  useful  position  in  life  to  our  good 
Christian  schools.  Santee,  the  largest  and  old- 
est, furnishes  every  year  a  large  number  of  well- 
trained  young  men  and  women  to  lead  the  van 
on  the  way  to  the  best  civilization.  Its  shops 
furnish  blacksmiths  and  carpenters.  Its  fields 
send  us  farmers,  and  its  homes  send  us  women 
of  character  to  be  a  light  unto  the  people. 

"  But  the  work  is  not  done.  The  temptations 
coming  now  are  not  the  temptations  of  the  war- 
path, the  wild  dance,  or  the  painted  faces  and 
scalp-locks.  They  have  come  from  the  very  civi- 
lization that  we  are  trying  to  teach  them  to 
meet.  The  white  man  comes,  —  in  many  cases 
an  outlaw,  —  and  when  he  arrives  in  these 
far-off  places  he  is  lawless  indeed,  and  leaves 
none  of  his  vices  behind  him;  but  his  skin  is 
white,  and  to  the  unskilled  child  of  the  prairie 
with  the  red  skin  he  is  a  man  of  the  new  civi- 
lization. His  faults  and  vices  make  him  a  hero, 
and  the  weak  fall  under  his  influence.  More 
solid  Christians,  men  and  women,  are  needed  to 
hold  these  white  men  upright.  The  American 
Missionary  Association  has  built  twelve  or  four- 
teen new  churches  for  the  Indians.  It  has  put 
on  the  field  three  new  men  to  superintend  mis- 
sionaries.   It  has  taken  up  several  new  stations 

80 


NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS 

for  work,  and  planted  the  banner  of  our  Lord  on 
the  outposts.  It  has  struggled  to  keep  it  there 
and  not  to  retreat.  But  the  officers  of  an  army 
cannot  win  a  battle;  that  is  fought  by  the  great 
army  of  men  behind  them.  So  a  great  body  of 
Christians  must  stand  back  of  the  Association 
in  its  working  out  of  its  great  desire." 

Especially  it  would  be  impossible  to  trace  the 
gracious  influences  of  the  school  at  Santee  dur- 
ing the  past  twenty-six  years  as  it  has  been  ad- 
ministered by  Rev.  Alfred  L.  Riggs,  d.d.  Year 
by  year  these  children  of  nature  have  come  half 
wild  to  Santee.  Aboriginal,  yet  foreign,  unable 
to  speak  our  language,  unacquainted  with  the 
ways  of  civilization,  ignorant  of  Christianity, 
they  have  acquired  from  text-books  used  in  our 
best  schools  a  good  English  education  with  facil- 
ity in  the  accurate  use  of  the  English  tongue 
without  losing  their  own,  a  practical  knowledge 
of  the  handicrafts  and  of  successful  agriculture, 
and  best  of  all  the  way  of  life  taught  by  Him 
who  said,  "  I  am  come  that  they  might  have  life, 
and  that  they  might  have  it  more  abundantly." 

Dr.  Thomas  L.  Riggs  contributes  the  follow- 
ing as  his  experience  of  the  changed  and 
changing  conditions  of  our  first  Americans : 

"  The  native  American  is  conservative.  He 
does  not  change  readily  in  'his  habits  of  life,  his 
6  81 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

customs,  or  his  speech.  That  which  has  been  has 
served  his  fathers,  and  why  should  it  not  answer 
for  his  fathers'  sons?  Nevertheless  the  changes 
that  have  taken  place  affecting  him  are  marked 
and  far-reaching.  From  being  a  rover  at  will 
he  has  now  come  to  have  a  more  or  less  settled 
abiding-place.  From  getting  his  living  as  a 
hunter  of  the  abundant  games  of  the  woodland 
and  vast  prairies,  and  from  the  life  of  a  warrior, 
he  has  become  a  peaceful  tiller  of  the  soil,  a 
stock  man,  a  freighter,  and  a  day-laborer  for 
hire,  that  he  may  support  himself  and  keep  the 
wolf  from  his  door.  And  instead  of  the  old 
tribal  organization  in  which  the  chief  stood  for 
the  tribe  in  dealing  with  others,  and  in  a  measure 
controlled  and  directed  the  movements  of  his 
followers,  we  now  have  as  the  social  unit  the 
family  and  the  individual.  While  in  some  cases 
the  tribal  organization  is  still  partially  in  force, 
it  nowhere  has  the  vitality  and  importance  for- 
merly existing.  This  change  is  so  great  and 
marks  so  important  a  growth  as  to  call  for  more 
than  mention  only.  To  those  who  know  Indians 
and  have  had  direct  dealings  with  them,  there 
is  but  little  meaning  in  the  word  '  chief.'  The 
utter  looseness  of  Indian  political  life  is  little 
known  to  the  outside  world.  From  the  usually 
published  account  of  visitors  every  other  Indian 

82 


A.   L.  RlGGS,  D.D. 


NORTH  AMERICAN   INDIANS 

seems  to  be  a  '  chief  '  or  a  '  chief's  '  son.  This 
is  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  in  addi- 
tion to  the  recognized  leaders  of  the  tribe  there 
are  sub-chiefs  and  heads  of  important  families, 
and  moreover  every  Indian  has  the  happy  faculty 
of  assuming  himself  to  be  the  representative  of 
his  tribe.  He  enjoys  the  joke  there  is  in  fooling 
the  white  man.  There  are,  however,  those  who 
are  no  chiefs.  Chiefs  sometimes,  though  rarely 
in  my  own  acquaintance  with  the  Dakotas,  oc- 
cupy their  positions  by  virtue  of  inheritance  — 
being  in  the  royal  line,  the  sons  of  chiefs.  The 
more  common  path  to  chieftainship  is  that  of  in- 
dividual ability.  And,  even  then,  the  man  comes 
into  prominence  by  the  support  of  his  followers. 
The  political  life  of  the  Indian  is  largely  demo- 
cratic. No  chief  can  long  disregard  the  wishes 
or  run  counter  to  the  traditions  and  hopes  of 
his  following.  The  individual,  though  intensely 
democratic,  glories  in  the  fact  that  he  belongs 
to  the  tribe,  and  he  follows  his  chief  because  the 
chief  represents  him,  —  represents  his  thought 
and  purpose  in  life.  Thus  it  is  readily  seen  that 
in  the  nature  of  things,  as  with  the  average  poli- 
tician among  ourselves,  the  head  of  a  tribe  is 
rarely  progressive.  Tribal  organization  in  itself 
has  always  opposed  civilization.  It  could  not  do 
otherwise,   for   civilization   means   its  downfall. 

83 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

And  without  any  qualification  it  may  be  here 
remarked  that  where  any  form  of  this  organ- 
ization exists,  however  loose  and  stripped  of  its 
former  power,  there  you  have  a  chilling  shadow 
in  the  way  of  civilization  and  progress.  It  is 
therefore  with  peculiar  satisfaction  that  the  stu- 
dent of  Indian  affairs  and  worker  for  his  uplift 
sees  the  overthrow  of  the  tribal  organization. 

"  I  call  attention  also  to  the  fact  that  in  the 
changes  already  noted  —  change  in  habitat, 
change  in  occupation,  and  change  in  tribal  or- 
ganization —  the  Indian  has  been  acted  upon 
from  without.  It  has  been  by  no  choice  of  his 
that  he  became  a  Reservation  Indian,  and  through 
the  years  of  government  support  has  come  under 
the  system  of  working  for  his  own  support.  It 
has  been  by  no  wish  of  his  that  the  old  tribal 
organization  has  largely  come  to  its  end.  These 
changes  have  been  forced  upon  him.  This  should 
be  borne  in  mind,  and  I  shall  refer  to  it  again. 

"  Self-support  and  self-government  are  two 
changes  now  taking  place.  With  these  the  In- 
dian is  already  face  to  face,  and  whether  he  likes 
it  or  not  he  must  become  a  self-supporting  in- 
dividual. All  others  will  sooner  or  later  go  to 
the  wall.  And  to  a  certain  extent  the  Indian  is 
learning  how  to  do  this.  Self-government  comes 
slowly.    As  yet  the  spell  of  the  old  order  is  upon 

84 


NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS 

him.  He  cannot  readily  free  himself  from  that 
to  which  he  has  been  accustomed,  which  brought 
control  and  redress  from  powers  outside  his  own 
will.  The  individual  has  always  looked  to  his 
tribal  head  or  to  his  tribe  for  protection,  and 
later,  when  suffering  a  real  or  fancied  injury,  to 
the  government  Indian  Agent.  When  he  was 
the  aggressor  he  escaped  punishment  altogether 
if  he  could. 

"  Another  change  that  i-s  surely  coming  —  and 
already  partly  has  come  —  is  accountability  to 
law  and  protection  by  law.  In  a  measure  fed- 
eral laws  are  enforced  upon  the  Reservations  and 
state  laws  off  the  Reservations.  As  might  be  ex- 
pected, the  Indian  comes  in  contact  with  law  in 
punishment  for  transgression  quite  frequently 
before  he  recognizes  in  it  the  protection  it  offers. 
Nevertheless  this  also  is  coming.  An  old  French- 
man who  had  an  Indian  wife  and  a  large  family 
living  on  the  Cheyenne  River  Reservation,  and 
who  had  grown  wealthy  in  cattle,  died  not  long 
ago,  leaving  his  property  by  will  duly  executed 
to  be  divided  equally  between  his  wife  and  nine 
children.  The  executor,  —  a  son-in-law,  —  on 
the  suggestion  and  advice  of  his  attorney,  at- 
tempted to  shut  out  two  of  the  daughters  from 
their  inheritance.  Suit  was  brought  by  one  of 
the  daughters,  and  the  estate  was  ordered  settled 

85 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

according  to  the  terms  of  the  will.  A  single 
case  of  this  kind  is  of  far  greater  value  than 
any  amount  of  preaching. 

"  Industrial  competition  is  another  of  the 
changes  that  are  coming,  and  for  which  it  must 
be  confessed  the  Indian  is  not  yet  prepared. 
You  cannot  expect  him  to  compete  with  his  white 
neighbors.  He  has  not  been  taught  by  the  school 
of  adversity  and  hard  knocks,  nor  has  he  learned 
to  care  for  and  save  what  he  has  under  the  new 
conditions  of  life.  It  takes  more  than  the  allot- 
ment of  land,  the  purchase  of  full  farming  equip- 
ment and  a  cow,  the  cutting  of  his  hair  and 
clothing  him  in  trousers  to  fit  him  for  this.  He 
must  be  taught  values,  —  the  value  of  time  as 
well  as  property,  thrift,  and  stick-to-itiveness. 
His  character  must  be  established,  and  the  man, 
the  man  with  a  mind  and  a  soul,  must  be  devel- 
oped under  his  new  conditions. 

"  There  is  but  one  other  outward  or  national 
change  that  I  shall  mention,  namely,  Absorption 
into  our  body  politic.  This  change  is  already  tak- 
ing place,  though  so  gradually  as  not  to  be  noticed. 
It  does  not  mean  that  the  race  is  to  die  out ;  but 
it  means  that  there  will  be  no  Indians  as  such; 
all  will  be  citizens  of  our  common  country.  This 
change  will  not  be  completed  in  a  day  nor  yet 
in  a  year.     All  changes  that  have  taken  place, 

86 


NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS 

and  those  now  in  the  making,  as  well  as  of  the 
near  future,  are  summed  up  in  this.  Difficult 
problems  are  to  be  adjusted  —  economic,  social, 
and  educational.  Influences  that  have  been 
brought  to  bear  on  the  outer  man  alone,  pro- 
ducing changes  external  and  changing  form 
rather  than  spirit  will  sink  into  insignificance  as 
compared  with  those  that  go  to  the  making  of 
character.  Nothing  else  will  stand  the  test  and 
nothing  else  will  safely  carry  the  Indian  across 
the  rivers  of  difficulty  and  evil  that  flow  around 
and  over  him.  Our  government  with  all  the 
agencies  it  commands  and  with  all  the  millions 
it  expends  cannot  supply  to  the  Indian  this  one 
thing  most  needful.  And  by  character  I  mean 
not  only  mental  equipment  and  training  but  that 
which  makes  such  equipment  and  training  fruit- 
ful, —  the  training  of  conscience,  the  training  of 
soul,  a  training  so  broad  and  deep  as  to  make  life 
honest  and  true,  and  which  shall  bring  the  man 
into  relations  with  his  God. 

"  Now  consider  the  active  forces  that  have 
brought  about  these  changes  already  accom- 
plished and  have  to  do  with  preparing  the  In- 
dian to  meet  the  conditions  of  life  in  his  new 
environment.  Chief  of  these  are  the  following: 
The  Reservation  and  the  ration  system,  industrial 
instruction  at  large,  the  schools,  the  allotment  of 

87 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

land  in  severalty  and  Christian  missions.  All 
these  have  had  a  part  in  the  changes.  As  active 
agencies  some  are  outgrown,  some  have  only 
begun  to  be  effective,  and  some  have  not  had 
due  recognition,  though  long  active  and  with 
the  largest  opportunities  and  possibilities  for  the 
future. 

"  Not  to  mention  the  Reservation  with  its  evils, 
and  the  government  method  of  issuing  rations, 
both  of  which  have  been  influences  against  in- 
dependent manhood,  and  both  of  which  were 
forced  upon  the  Indian,  I  come  to  the  agency 
of  industrial  instruction.  For  as  if  to  make 
amends  for  evils  we  did  not  foresee  —  and  with 
the  best  of  motives  —  we  diligently  set  about 
training  the  Indians  in  the  industries  of  civilized 
life.  They  were  to  be  taught  how  to  farm 
and  to  raise  cattle.  Year  after  year  many 
thousands  of  dollars  were  expended  in  sending 
to  them  as  teachers  farmers  who  did  not  know 
how  to  farm,  and  whose  time  was  usually  taken 
up  in  entirely  different  lines;  in  the  purchase  of 
seeds  by  the  ton  that  often  reached  the  Indian 
too  late  to  be  planted;  and  in  the  purchase  of 
stock  cattle,  that  sooner  or  later  in  most  cases 
were  killed  and  eaten  by  the  recipients.  In  some 
cases,  indeed,  there  has  been  careful  oversight 
of  these  matters  by  the  agent  in  charge;    then, 

88 


NORTH  AMERICAN   INDIANS 

again,  all  that  was  gained  has  been  lost  by  a 
change  of  agents.  This  branch  of  well-intended 
education  has  been  shamefully  mismanaged. 
Haphazard  administration  and  shiftless  govern- 
ment oversight  has  been  the  history  of  the  years 
that  have  gone  by.  The  results  therefore  have 
been  discreditably  small  for  the  vast  expenditures 
of  money.  To  be  sure,  the  Indian  has  had  his 
hair  cut  and  wears  trousers  and  a  hat,  and  in- 
directly doubtless  has  learned  something  by  it. 

"  Following,  and  partly  coordinate  with,  this 
industrial  experiment  an  active  educational  cam- 
paign was  begun  in  the  schools.  There  are 
now  twenty-five  non-reservation  schools,  ninety- 
one  reservation  boarding-schools,  and  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty-three  reservation  day-schools  car- 
ried on  by  the  government.  It  would  not  be 
just  to  say  that  these  schools  are  not  doing  good 
work.  Probably  the  most  of  them  are,  but  I 
think  much  greater  good  would  have  followed 
had  a  rational  system  of  true  education  obtained 
from  the  beginning.  I  agree  with  the  honorable 
Commissioner  of  Indian  Affairs  in  rating  the  day- 
school  as  the  most  helpful  and  important,  and 
probably  go  beyond  him  in  his  condemnation  of 
the  government  boarding-school  on  the  Reserva- 
tion as  a  system  and  in  its  present  almshouse 
and  pauperizing  condition.    Very  possibly  there 

89 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

may  have  been  justification  for  the  large  non- 
reservation  school  in  the  past,  but  with  an  an- 
nual expenditure  of  two  million  dollars  we  have 
a  right  to  ask  larger  and  more  satisfactory  re- 
sults than  those  of  the  past. 

"  Another  agency  that  is  doing  its  work  in 
showing  the  Indian  the  way  out  of  his  past,  and 
into  the  new  condition  of  life,  is  the  allotment 
of  land  in  severalty,  and  the  breaking  up  of  the 
Reservation  system.  Much  has  been  said  about 
this  movement  and  much  was  expected  to  come 
from  it.  There  were,  however,  difficulties  in  the 
way.  The  less  advanced  Indian  would  have  none 
of  it,  and  many  who  received  land  waited  only 
till  they  could  dispose  of  it  for  a  'mess  of  pot- 
tage.' The  dreams  of  good  men  were  thus  soon 
disturbed.  The  plan  has  not  worked.  It  has 
been  found  necessary  to  safeguard  the  allotments, 
and  the  end  desired,  namely,  industrious  Indians 
supported  by  their  own  labor  on  their  own  farms, 
may  not  be  universally  assured  for  some  time  to 
come.  However,  men  learn  by  their  mistakes 
as  well  as  by  their  successes,  and  in  like  manner 
there  doubtless  have  been  gains  of  a  sort  to  the 
Indian. 

"  The  last  agency  that  I  shall  name  as  active 
in  the  effort  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  Indian  that 
he  may  see  clearly  his  changed  environment  and 

90 


NORTH  AMERICAN   INDIANS 

fit  himself  for  its  new  duties  and  its  privileges 
is  that  of  Christian  missions  and  Christian 
schools.  Christian  missions  among  the  Indians 
have  from  the  first  aimed  at  their  moral  uplift; 
aimed  to  open  their  eyes  and  awaken  their  souls 
that  they  may  see  clearly  and  choose  for  them- 
selves that  which  is  good.  This  agency  has 
looked  to  the  development  of  the  man  from 
within,  rather  than  from  without;  has  stood  for 
the  growth  of  character,  and  has  counted  all  else 
as  secondary  and  subordinate  to  this.  In  this 
lies  the  great  difference  between  Christian  mis- 
sions, Christian  schools,  and  all  other  agencies. 
The  one  has  endeavored  to  help  the  man  as  a 
thinking,  reasoning  being;  the  other  agencies 
have  greatly  overlooked  this  and  have  endeav- 
ored to  change  his  outer  appearance;  teaching 
him  industries,  not  as  giving  him  power  to  con- 
trol himself,  but  as  an  occupation;  teaching  him 
the  English  language,  not  as  a  means  to  an  end, 
but  as  the  end  itself. 

"  Through  our  Christian  missions  there  is  a 
change  in  attitude  on  the  part  of  the  Indian,  a 
change  in  thought  and  outlook  of  far  more  im- 
portance than  all  others,  for  it  marks  the  growth 
of  manhood,  and  gives  us  permanent  hope  for 
the  future.  The  Indian  is  coming  to  think  of 
himself  in  relation  to  others.    He  is  recognizing 

9i 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

the  life  and  aims  of  civilization  as  that  of  which 
he  is  a  part.  He  is  looking  to  the  meaning  of 
things  and  to  their  effect  on  the  future.  The 
spirit  of  Christianity  —  even  with  those  not 
professing  Christianity  —  has  greatly  changed 
the  Indians'  thought.  This  has  been  an  uncon- 
scious movement,  and  slowly  but  powerfully  is 
transforming  whole  tribes.  But  this  has  not  come 
without  open  and  persistent  opposition. 

"  The  Indian  missions  of  The  American  Mis- 
sionary Association  have  endeavored  all  these 
years  to  build  up  character,  to  make  men  of  char- 
acter, to  make  thinking,  reasoning  men.  In  this 
zve  have  not  failed.  We  have  taught  the  gospel 
of  Christ,  —  that  Christ  came  to  save  men  from 
evil;  that  every  man,  Indian  or  white,  must  do 
his  part;  that  life  means  work;  that  religion  is 
more  than  an  outward  change;  that  also  means 
a  change  of  heart  which  calls  for  and  ensures 
outward  changes. 

"  Our  missions  and  schools  have  been  the 
only  constant  agencies  to  follow  consistently 
this  rational  plan  to  save  the  Indian.  No  other 
agency  than  that  which  is  positively  Christian 
has  in  view  the  religious  nature  of  the  Indian. 
No  other  schools  than  Christian  schools  can  be 
expected  to  raise  up  religious  teachers  for  these 
people,  and,  as  a  matter  of  fact,  no  other  agency 

92 


NORTH   AMERICAN   INDIANS 

provides  such  men  of  character  and  power  as 
does  that  which  seeks  to  save  in  the  name  of  the 
Master." 

These  testimonies  of  long-time  experience  on 
the  part  of  those  who  have  proven  by  their  lives 
among  the  Indians  the  value  of  their  knowledge 
may  stand  for  the  approval  of  our  missionary 
endeavors  among  the  "  First  Americans."  If  the 
story  has  not  been  striking,  the  history  has  never- 
theless been  great. 


93 


V 
THE    HOME    DEPARTMENT 

WEST   AND   SOUTH 


Missions  in  Ohio,  Indiana,  Michigan,  Illinois,  Wiscon- 
sin, Minnesota,  and  Iowa.  —  In  Kentucky  under  Rev. 
John  G.  Fee.  —  The  irrepressible  conflict.  —  Violence.  — 
First  plea  for  a  college  at  Berea,  Kentucky,  in  1857.  — 
Rev.  John  A.  R.  Rogers,  the  first  Principal  in  1859.  — 
Mob  expulsion  of  all  missionaries  of  the  Association  from 
Kentucky  and  North  Carolina.  —  Reopening  of  Berea 
school  after  the  war  in  1865  under  Professor  Rogers.  — 
The  first  "  college  "  class  in  1869. 


V 

THE  HOME  DEPARTMENT 
WEST  AND   SOUTH 

THE  "  Home  Department  "  was  organized 
to  embrace  two  distinct  fields,  the  West 
and  the  South.  Those  engaged  in  the 
Western  field  were  located  in  Ohio  and  in  the 
states  west  of  it,  —  Indiana,  Michigan,  Illinois, 
Wisconsin,  Minnesota,  and  Iowa.  The  work  in 
these  states  was  conducted  with  special  purpose 
to  bear  decided  testimony  against  slavery  and 
the  sin  of  caste. 

The  missions  in  slave  states  had  the  distinc- 
tion of  beginning  the  first  decided  efforts  to  or- 
ganize churches  and  schools  in  the  South  on  an 
avowedly  antislavery  basis.  The  pioneer  in  this 
movement  was  Rev.  John  G.  Fee,  of  Kentucky, 
the  son  of  a  slaveholder,  disinherited  by  his 
father  on  account  of  his  antislavery  principles. 
He,  then  in  the  vigor  of  young  manhood,  of 
great  faith,  and,  as  it  proved,  of  great  courage, 
collected  a  church  of  non-slaveholders,  and  ap- 
7  97 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

plied  to  The  American  Missionary  Association 
for  a  commission.  Warmly  welcomed,  his  com- 
mission was  dated  October  10,  1848.  In  his  first 
most  optimistic  letter  to  The  American  Mission- 
ary, three  months  later,  he  writes  from  Ken- 
tucky, "  My  most  sanguine  expectations  three 
years  since  did  not  anticipate  such  freedom  of 
speech  as  we  now  have,  nor  did  I  expect  to  see 
such  progress  among  the  people  in  antislavery 
sentiment."  The  next  year  he  adds,  "  Our  con- 
gregations are  regularly  increasing  in  size  and 
interest.  The  general  impression  through  the 
community  now  is  that  an  antislavery  church 
can  exist  and  prosper  in  a  slave  state.  We  have 
peace  and  can  circulate  antislavery  documents 
with  great  readiness." 

In  1854  his  letters  show  that  he  has  lost  noth- 
ing of  his  convictions,  nor  of  his  determination 
to  express  them.  "  Since  my  last  report,  we  have 
organized  one  more  church.  A  whole  gospel  can 
be  preached  in  the  South,  and  churches  having 
no  fellowship  with  slavery  are  organized  and 
have  fair  prospects  of  success.  Within  the  life- 
time of  some  now  living,  we  must  see  from  six 
to  twelve  millions  of  bondmen  with  responsibili- 
ties and  influences  of  freedom.  Twenty  or  thirty 
years  from  this  time,  what  will  hold  these  slaves 
in  bondage?     No  power  on  earth  will  do  it,  as 

98 


THE   HOME   DEPARTMENT 

I  believe.  Redemption  to  the  poor  slave  will 
come.  But  how  shall  it  come?  Shall  it  be  by 
moral  means?  If  freedom  shall  not  come  by 
moral  means,  then  will  it  be  by  physical,  by  war 
and  carnage?  " 

The  young  man  was  preaching  and  praying 
that  it  might  not  be  "  by  war  and  carnage,"  but 
within  six  years  from  this  date,  "  redemption  to 
the  poor  slave  "  had  come,  and,  alas,  by  dreadful 
war  and  carnage. 

It  could  not  possibly  be,  in  the  exciting  events 
now  hastening  on  the  "  irrepressible  conflict," 
that  sentiments  like  these  should  go  unchallenged. 
Slavery,  ever  vigilant,  saw  the  danger.  The  first 
personal  indication  of  it  to  Mr.  Fee  came  soon. 
He  may  relate  the  experience  in  his  own  words: 

Preparations  had  been  made  for  a  discussion  with 
a  young  lawyer.  He  had  actually  entered  upon  it  and 
made  his  opening  speech  at  one  of  my  previous  ap- 
pointments. I  went  at  the  time  appointed  expecting 
a  pleasant  debate.  I  found  the  accustomed  good  and 
attractive  audience  absent,  and  a  lawless  band  of 
wicked,  profane  men  —  about  forty  —  in  their  stead. 
They  presented  resolutions  accusing  me  of  teaching 
immoral  doctrines  and  of  rebelling  against  law,  and 
insisted  that  I  desist,  adding,  "  This  is  peremptory." 
I  demanded  to  be  brought  before  the  law  tribunals,  if 
I  had  violated  law.  If  I  was  teaching  error,  I  asked 
some  lawyer,  doctor,  or  preacher,  or  any  half  dozen 

99 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

of  them,  to  appear  before  the  people  and  show  it,  and 
let  me  have  the  chance  of  reply.  They  replied,  "  We 
want  no  discussion,"  and  demanded  that  I  should  prom- 
ise not  to  preach  any  more  there,  and  that  I  should 
leave  the  house,  threatening  violence  if  I  did  not.  I 
refused,  saying  I  should  do  no  one  thing  that  had  the 
appearance  of  retreating  or  of  surrendering  a  right. 
They  swore  I  should,  and  took  me  by  force,  put  me  on 
my  horse,  and  then  with  boards  and  sticks  forced  my 
horse  along,  pouring  upon  me  vile  abuse  and  constant 
threats  of  violence.  I  regretted  it  because  of  the 
effect  upon  the  minds  of  many  friends  who  were  just 
beginning  to  lend  a  favorable  ear,  yet  to  me  it  has 
been  a  blessing.  It  has  driven  me  nearer  to  God,  my 
strength  cast  down  but  not  destroyed. 

It  was  two  years  after  this  that  Mr.  Fee  made 
his  first  plea  for  a  college  in  Berea.  It  would 
seem  a  strange  time  to  think  of  founding  a  col- 
lege, but  his  triumphant  faith  writes  in  1857, 
after  the  reign  of  terror  had  begun, 

Free  churches  and  free  schools  can  be  sustained. 
We  want  teachers,  not  merely  antislavery  teachers,  but 
Christian  teachers,  who  shall  labor  to  redeem  their 
pupils  from  all  sin. 

We  need  a  college  here  which  shall  be  to  Kentucky 
what  Oberlin  is  to  Ohio,  an  antislavery,  anti-caste, 
anti-tobacco,  anti-sectarian  school,  —  a  school  under 
Christian  influence ;  a  school  that  will  furnish  the  best 
possible  facilities  for  those  of  small  means  who  have 
energy  of  character  that  will  lead  them  to  work  their 

100 


THE   HOME   DEPARTMENT 

way  through  this  world.  Is  it  practical?  It  is.  I 
know  places  where  improved  lands  can  be  bought  for 
ten  or  twelve  dollars  per  acre.  Three  or  four  hundred 
acres  would  secure  a  village,  a  home  for  a  colony. 
Faith,  persevering  trust  in  God,  will  overcome  all  diffi- 
culties. The  place  for  the  college  is  here  in  the  interior 
of  Kentucky. 

Thus  Berea  College  began  its  history  in  the 
brain  of  John  G.  Fee  while  he  was  a  missionary 
of  The  American  Missionary  Association.  The 
idea  soon  became  a  fact,  and  Rev.  John  A.  R. 
Rogers,  likewise  commissioned  by  the  Association, 
was  associated  with  Mr.  Fee  from  the  first.  Born 
in  Cornwall,  Connecticut,  and  from  Mayflozver 
ancestry,  Mr.  Rogers  was  prepared  for  Yale  Col- 
lege, but  his  father  having  moved  to  the  West, 
he  entered  Oberlin  College,  from  which  he  was 
graduated  in  the  class  of  1850,  and  from  the 
Theological  Seminary  in  1854.  In  1858  he  went 
to  Berea,  and  in  1859  the  school  was  opened  with 
Rogers  as  its  head.  Previous  to  the  opening  the 
question  arose,  "  Should  colored  children  be  ad- 
mitted into  the  schoolroom  with  white  chil- 
dren?" The  discussion  was  lively  and  opinions 
were  divided.  Two  sets  of  directors  were  put 
in  nomination,  and  Mr.  Fee  writes  to  the  As- 
sociation, "  The  directors  for  the  anti-caste  school 
were  elected  by  a  majority  of  more  than  two  to 

IQI 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

one,  this,  too,  at  an  unusually  large  meeting  of 
the  voters  of  the  district."  No  doubt  this  result 
was  in  part  due  to  the  steadfast  opposition  to 
caste  on  the  part  of  the  incoming  principal,  for 
Mr.  Fee  writes,  "  Brother  Rogers,  who  has  the 
care  of  the  school,  announced  his  purpose  not 
to  enter  it  unless  it  should  be  open  to  all." 

Immediately  Mr.  Fee  went  North  to  interest 
those  who  would  listen  to  him  in  behalf  of  this 
new  endeavor.  It  was  in  the  days  when  the 
Association  and  all  identified  with  it  were  looked 
upon  with  distrust  as  disturbers  of  the  peace  of 
the  churches,  and  though  Mr.  Fee  found  few 
friends  among  the  wealthy,  he  secured  sufficient 
aid  to  encourage  him  to  go  forward.  Had  he 
received  only  rebuffs,  and  they  were  many,  there 
would  have  been  to  him  no  discouragement.  The 
meaning  of  the  word  was  beyond  his  comprehen- 
sion.    He  never  turned  to  it  in  his  dictionary. 

The  school  had  begun  when  Mr.  Fee  faced 
another  riiob.  While  he  was  preaching  thirty  or 
forty  armed  men  demanded  that  he  should  cease 
and  promise  to  be  silent  in  the  future.  "  It  is 
not  impossible,"  he  replied,  "  that  some  of  you 
may  yet  want  me  to  come  and  pray  with  you, 
and  I  should  hate  to  be  under  a  pledge  not  to 
do  it."  He  could  not  "  make  a  pledge  that  might 
conflict  with  future  duty."    Upon  this  they  com- 

102 


J.  A.  R.  Rogers,  D.D. 


THE   HOME   DEPARTMENT 

pelled  him  to  remove  part  of  his  clothing  before 
plying  their  whips  upon  him.  He  knelt  to  re- 
ceive the  blows,  but  for  some  unaccountable 
reason  they  desisted  without  striking  a  blow. 

The  next  year  brought  the  expulsion  of 
all  the  missions  of  the  Association  from  Ken- 
tucky and  North  Carolina.  The  onset  began  at 
Berea,  while  Mr.  Fee  was  in  the  North  solicit- 
ing funds  for  the  school,  when  a  committee  of 
sixty-two  persons  appointed  at  a  public  meeting 
held  at  Richmond,  the  county-seat,  came  to  Berea 
and  warned  the  principal  men  to  leave  the  place 
within  ten  days.  Upon  this  they  appealed  for 
protection  to  the  governor  of  Kentucky.  He 
assured  them  that  he  could  not  give  it,  and  thus 
thirty-six  persons  were  expelled  from  the  state. 

After  the  war  in  1865  ^e  school  was  re- 
opened and  again  under  Professor  Rogers  with 
a  large  attendance.  Immediately  the  question  of 
caste  presented  itself  for  reconsideration.  Three 
colored  pupils  applied  for  admission  and  were 
accepted,  —  the  first  time  that  colored  students 
in  the  South  had  been  admitted  to  a  school  with 
the  whites.  Most  of  the  white  students  left,  but 
later  on  many  returned. 

In  1869  the  first  college  class  in  the  institu- 
tion sustained  by  the  Association  was  started, 
consisting  of  five  students,  all  from  Kentucky. 

103 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

At  this  time  Dr.  Rogers  declined  to  accept  the 
presidency,  but  remained  as  a  professor  of  Greek 
until  1878.  He  died  in  1906  at  the  age  of  seventy- 
eight  years.  Both  he  and  Mr.  Fee  —  heroic 
souls  —  had  lived  to  richly  inherit  the  promises 
of  great  faith  and  great  patience.  For  many 
years  Berea  College  received  appropriations  from 
the  Association. 


104 


VI 

"THE  MORNING  COMETH,  AND  ALSO 
THE  NIGHT  " 


Dark  days.  —  Distrust  and  prejudice.  —  The  spirit  of 
the  Association.  —  Persistent  purpose.  —  The  Fugitive 
Slave  Law.  —  Commerce  and  conservatism.  —  The  sur- 
render of  Thomas  Sims  in  Boston  in  1850.  —  Excitement 
and  "  Indignation  Meeting "  in  Tremont  Temple.  — 
The  American  Missionary  Association  honored  by  the 
speakers.  —  Attention  called  to  its  stand  for  principle.  — 
Gaining  friends.  —  Light  breaking.  —  The  influence  of 
the  great  Avery  legacy.  —  The  announcement  of  war  and 
a  new  field  of  mission  labor. 


VI 

"THE   MORNING   COMETH,    AND   ALSO 
THE    NIGHT" 

THROUGH  many  discouragements  and 
dark  days  the  Association  held  on  to  its 
work.  It  had  not  secured  general  pub- 
lic consideration,  and  only  limited  recognition 
from  churches.  Not  many  wise  and  not  many 
mighty  were  willing  to  risk  themselves  and 
their  popularity  against  the  prejudice  and  dis- 
trust which  this  agitating  "disturber  of  the 
peace  of  the  churches "  carried  with  itself. 
Its  annual  meetings  were  conspicuous  for  the 
absence  of  the  familiar  and  influential  names 
which  were  wont  to  figure  on  the  platforms  of 
other  benevolent  societies.  Strong  and  leading 
men,  who  at  heart  disapproved  of  the  silence  of 
other  societies,  were  nevertheless  not  ready  to 
identify  themselves  with  this.  Its  friends,  how- 
ever rich  they  might  have  been  in  faith,  were 
not  among  the  wealthy,  and  its  yearly  income  had 
hardly  reached  $50,000. 

At  the   same  time,   while  the  pages   of   The 
American    Missionary    of    these    days    tell    the 

107 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

story  of  struggle,  they  also  show  that  during 
these  trying  years,  when  friends  were  few  and 
sympathy  was  small,  the  Association  never 
bated  a  jot  of  heart  or  hope.  While  there  was 
a  persistent  antagonism  on  its  part  to  the  atti- 
tude of  such  societies  as  maintained  any  com- 
plicity with  slavery,  its  pages  show  no  hardness 
or  bitterness.  The  patient  persistence  of  an 
unconquerable  purpose,  "  speaking  the  truth  in 
love,"  is  discernible  in  all  its  records,  and  is  in 
striking  contrast  to  the  utterances  and  methods 
of  those  who  thought  that  denunciation  strength- 
ened principle  and  that  bitterness  attested  sin- 
cerity.   The  spirit  of  that  day  is  thus  indicated : 

We  regret  the  necessity  of  devoting  any  portion  of 
our  columns  to  a  discussion  of  the  relations  of  other 
Missionary  Boards  to  slavery.  It  would  be  much  more 
congenial  to  our  feelings  to  address  ourselves  to  the 
work  of  giving  the  gospel  to  the  destitute  portions  of 
our  own  and  other  lands  without  this  hindrance.  It 
is  not  that  we  undervalue  the  good  which  other  mis- 
sionary societies  have  accomplished,  or  would  curtail 
their  power  to  increase  their  beneficial  effects,  that  we 
allude  to  what  they  have  done,  or  neglected  to  do,  on 
this  subject.  Painful  as  it  may  be,  we  are  constrained 
in  fidelity  to  our  principles,  and  by  regard  for  the 
welfare  of  the  oppressed,  to  give  a  decided  testimony, 
even  though  in  so  doing  we  hazard  the  loss  of  the 
good  opinion  of  some  whom  we  love  but  who  do  not 

108 


"THE   MORNING  COMETH" 

think  as  we  do.  Were  the  religious  papers  of  the 
country  open  to  our  communications,  we  might  prefer 
those  channels ;  but  as  they  are  not  —  with  scarce  an 
exception  —  we  must  make  use  of  the  best  instrumen- 
tality within  our  reach.  Our  object  has  been  to  en- 
force correct  principles  and  to  secure  correct  action, 
with  the  hope  ultimately  of  benefiting  all  organiza- 
tions and  injuring  none.  We  hope  we  may  be  guided 
by  the  spirit  of  faithfulness  and  love. 

One  who  reads  the  records  of  those  early  days 
will  certainly  not  fail  to  recognize  "  the  spirit 
of  faithfulness  "  written  large. 

The  Association  kept  on  expressing  its  con- 
tinued confidence  in  the  correctness  of  its  dis- 
tinctive principles.  It  felt  called  on  to  live  and 
work  because  it  believed  that  these  principles  did 
not  find  adequate  exemplification  in  any  existing 
missionary  organization.  To  aflord  relief  to  the 
consciences  of  such  as  were  aggrieved  by  the 
policy  of  silence  upon  the  doctrine  that  man  could 
hold  property  in  the  body  and  spirit  of  his  fellow 
men,  to  rectify  public  opinion,  and  especially 
Christian  public  opinion,  was  God's  call  to  the 
society;   it  was  far  from  being  popular. 

At  its  fourth  annual  meeting  in  1850,  among 
its  "  resolutions  "  reads  the  following :  — 

Resolved,  that  we  believe  the  Christianity  of  the 
nation  is  about  to  be  tested,  in  view  of  the  late  act 

109 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

of  Congress  for  recovery  of  fugitive  slaves,  which 
appears  equally  at  variance  with  the  principles  of  the 
Association,  the  Constitution  of  the  country,  and  the 
law  of  God,  and  that  as  Christians  we  do  solemnly 
covenant  with  each  other  and  our  colored  brethren 
that  we  cannot  obey  it,  nor  any  law  that  contravenes 
the  higher  law  of  our  Maker,  whatever  persecution  or 
penalty  we  may  be  called  to  suffer. 

This  reads  tamely  enough  now,  but  it  was  suf- 
ficiently wild  in  1850.  No  one  in  all  the  land  is 
now  disturbed  by  the  constitution  of  the  Associa- 
tion, but  if  a  minister  had  quoted  it  at  this  time 
with  approval,  most  of  his  congregation  would 
have  needed  the  "  long  prayer  "  to  calm  their 
minds;  for  it  meant  disturbance.  On  the  side 
of  the  oppressor  were  numbers  and  power.  Men 
are  still  living  who  remember  the  Castle  Garden 
Meeting  called  by  the  New  York  merchants  for 
the  avowed  purpose  of  showing  to  the  slave- 
holders of  the  South  that  they  had  no  sympathy 
with  such  an  utterance  as  this  society  put  forth. 
At  that  meeting  the  most  brilliant  young  lawyer 
in  New  York,  the  son  of  a  New  England  minis- 
ter, was  one  of  the  principal  defenders  of  the 
infamous  fugitive  slave  law,  and  "  prostituted  his 
keen  intellect  to  the  task  of  cheering  on  the 
bloodhounds  that  were  chasing  human  beings, 
whose  only  crime  was  that  they  fled  from  slav- 

110 


"THE   MORNING   COMETH" 

ery."  The  religious  papers,  the  theological  semi- 
naries, and  the  great  majority  of  the  churches 
practically  said,  Amen.  If  the  Fugitive  Slave 
Law  was  felt  to  be  a  calamity,  it  was  one  which 
could  not  be  escaped.  The  great  Daniel  Webster 
hesitated  before  it,  and  tottered  to  his  fall. 
Other  Northern  statesmen  surrendered  their  con- 
sciences on  the  ground  that  the  Fugitive  Act  was 
"  warranted  by  the  Constitution."  Thus,  while 
commerce  and  conservatism  consented  that  slave- 
hunters  might  traverse  the  free  states  to  search 
for  fugitives,  and  while  Boston  was  sending  back 
handcuffed  captives  without  trial  into  slavery, 
the  Association  was  lifting  up  its  voice  as  well 
as  it  could  in  behalf  of  righteousness.  "  Little 
can  be  hoped,"  it  continues  in  its  missionary 
appeals,  "  from  politicians  until  the  Christian 
churches  can  be  brought  to  unite  prayer  and 
effort  for  its  overthrow." 

To  one  who  personally  witnessed  the  surrender 
of  Thomas  Sims  in  Boston  in  the  year  1850,  we 
are  indebted  for  a  look  upon  the  scene :  — 

They  marched  him  down  to  the  end  of  Long  Wharf, 
and  fastened  him  to  a  stanchion  in  the  foul-smelling 
hold  of  the  big  Acorn  —  owned  by  the  same  Boston 
merchant  who  had  once  before  in  a  similar  way  dis- 
graced the  name.  A  tug  hauled  the  Acorn  out  into 
the  harbor;    her  sails  were  raised,  and  like  a  guilty 

in 


AMERICAN    MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

specter  she  stole  away  in  the  gray  of  the  morning, 
leaving  humiliated  and  disgraced  the  city  of  John 
Hancock,  Samuel  Adams,  and  Paul  Revere.  When 
the  crowd  retired  from  witnessing  the  sailing  of  the 
Acorn,  Court  Square  was  again  filled  with  angry  citi- 
zens. It  was  Wendell  Phillips  who  suggested  an  ad- 
journment to  Tremont  Temple  that  evening.  The 
Temple  was  packed  with  intellectual,  thoughtful  men. 
If  Boston  had  been  carried  away  by  excitement  in 
the  morning,  she  had  come  to  her  senses  before  even- 
ing. The  speeches  were  neither  excited  nor  extreme. 
They  were  rather  conservative  and  temperate,  with 
a  somber  cast  which  gave  expression  to  the  morti- 
fication and  shame  and  dishonor  which  seemed  to  fill 
every  heart.  I  cannot  remember  which  of  the  speakers 
first  struck  the  note  to  which  so  many  hearts  re- 
sponded :  "  When  God  is  with  us,  why  do  we  forget 
him  in  this  war  with  slavery?"  and  from  that  mo- 
ment the  war-cry  was  that  of  old  crusaders,  "  God 
with  us !  God  with  us !  "  The  name  of  The  American 
Missionary  Association  ever  since  that  evening  has 
been  in  my  memory  inseparably  connected  with  that 
meeting.  Whether  I  then  first  heard  its  name,  or 
whether  it  was  commended  as  a  model  for  uniting 
men  in  opposition  to  slavery  upon  Christian  as  well 
as  moral  grounds,  I  cannot  now  recall,  but  from  that 
night  opposition  to  slavery  in  the  free  states  took  on 
a  new  form.  Men  saw  that  slavery  had  thrown  off 
all  disguises,  denied  its  solemn  agreements,  and  en- 
tered upon  a  campaign  of  aggression  that  had  no 
bounds,  which  could  not  be  successfully  resisted  unless 
there  should  be  union  and  harmony  of  action  among 

112 


"THE   MORNING   COMETH " 

all  the  societies  in  the  free  states  laboring  for  the 
spread  of  the  gospel  and  the  repression  of  every  form 
of  crime. 

This  meeting  in  Tremont  Temple  adjourned  to  meet 
in  convention  five  days  later.  This  convention,  at 
which  Horace  Mann  presided,  was  unquestionably  one 
of  the  most  important  ever  held  in  New  England.  The 
American  Missionary  Association  was  again  highly 
commended  by  the  speakers  and  brought  conspicuously 
into  public  notice  as  the  best  agency  for  the  protec- 
tion of  the  colored  race.  And  from  that  time  the 
growth  of  the  Association  had  a  remarkable  impulse. 
Its  name  became  familiar.  It  was  seen  by  many  for 
the  first  time  to  be  a  practical  agency  for  the  protec- 
tion and  improvement  of  the  colored  race  and  a  model 
for  effective  opposition  to  the  increasing  aggression 
of  the  slave  power;  and  it  will  ever  remain  a  truth 
of  history  that  opposition  to  slavery  made  no  substan- 
tial progress  until  it  came  upon  the  ground  of  the  As- 
sociation, to  enlist  the  powerful  agencies  of  the  pulpit 
and  the  church,  and  that  the  first  attempt  to  raise 
this  opposition  to  that  high  level  was  the  organization 
and  work  of  The  American  Missionary  Association. 

As  God's  purpose  ripened,  the  Association 
gained  friends.  The  current  had  slightly  changed, 
and  it  is  easier  to  steer  with  the  current.  Secretary 
Whipple  writes  that  he  is  "  laboring  in  the  midst 
of  obloquy,"  but  certainly  this  was  both  weaker 
and  reduced  in  quantity  as  the  strange  ways  of 
God  were  justifying  the  faith  of  those  in  whom 
his  gracious  love  and  power  had  been  working 
8  113 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

for  the  redemption  of  the  oppressed  and  for  the 
purity  of  his  churches.  At  this  time  the  Annual 
Report  deplores  the  instances  "  where  men  in 
high  position  in  the  church  have  apologized  for 
the  Fugitive  Slave  Law "  and  advocated  its 
claims  to  obedience.  Showing  how  compacts  de- 
signed to  secure  freedom  had  been  swept  away, 
how  free  territory  had  been  violently  possessed 
by  the  slave  power,  how  the  purity  of  the  ballot- 
box  had  been  destroyed,  and  how  men  professing 
godliness  had  been  prominent  in  these  acts,  it 
exclaims,  "  Surely  the  time  is  near  at  hand  when 
the  church  will  clearly  see  that  the  moral  evils 
of  slavery  cannot  be  abated  while  those  who  are 
involved  in  its  support  are  received  in  good  stand- 
ing in  the  Christian  churches  and  have  a  voice 
in  the  control  of  benevolent  societies.  Providen- 
tial causes  at  work  in  this  land  make  more  evi- 
dent to  all  the  necessity  of  our  principles  in  the 
work  of  Christian  missions  and  philanthropy." 

Nevertheless,  though  the  night  had  been  long 
and  dark,  the  day  had  begun  to  break. 

"  Faith  walks  in  night,  yet  is  not  of  the  night ; 
And  Hope,  her  fellow,  looks  into  the  east, 
Where  marking  the  long  cloud-bars  all  of  gold, 
It  says,  ere  day  is  up,  '  Behold  the  sun ! '  " 

It  is  not  necessary  to  follow  in  detail  the  sev- 
eral steps  by  which  the  slave  power  had  so  far 

114 


"THE   MORNING   COMETH" 

maintained  and  now  sought  to  increase  its  as- 
cendency in  the  Union.  For  a  century  it  had 
been  aggression  on  the  one  side  and  servile  ac- 
quiescence on  the  other.  The  addition  of  slave 
states,  successful  slave  legislation,  the  Missouri 
Compromise,  the  annexation  of  Texas,  and,  at 
last,  the  Fugitive  Slave  Law,  with  the  Kansas- 
Nebraska  bill,  and  the  Dred  Scott  decision  were 
parts  of  one  purpose  to  make  slavery  national. 
The  cup  of  Northern  acquiescence  to  protect  and 
perpetuate  the  crime  against  humanity  was  nearly 
full. 

The  testimonies  for  the  principles  of  the  As- 
sociation came  now  from  new  adherents.  Albert 
Barnes,  in  1857,  wrote:  — 

There  never  has  been  a  time  when  the  system  of  slav- 
ery has  been  so  bold,  exacting,  arrogant,  and  danger- 
ous to  liberty  as  at  present,  when  so  much  could  be 
done  in  favor  of  the  rights  of  man  by  plain  utterance 
of  sentiment ;  when  so  much  guilt  would  be  incurred 
by  silence.  It  cannot  be  right  that  any  one  who  holds 
the  system  to  be  evil  .  .  .  should  so  act  that  it  shall 
be  impossible  to  understand  his  opinion  in  relation  to  it ; 
so  act  that  his  conduct  could  be  appealed  to  as  imply- 
ing an  apology  for  slavery. 

At  this  period  a  great  legacy,  exceptional  in 
amount  for  those  days,  came  to  the  Association 
which  not  only  brought  it  new  courage,  but  em- 
phasis also  to  its  work.    The  Rev.  Charles  Avery 

115 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

of  Pittsburg,  a  local  preacher  in  the  Protestant 
Methodist  Church,  left  somewhat  more  than 
$100,000  as  "  a  perpetual  fund  for  disseminat- 
ing the  light  of  the  gospel  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  blessings  of  Christian  civilization  among  the 
benighted  black  and  colored  races  inhabiting  the 
continent  of  Africa,  to  be  intrusted,  managed, 
and  applied  under  the  direction  of  the  Executive 
Committee  of  the  Association  for  the  uses  afore- 
said and  for  no  other,  but  leaving  to  the  discre- 
tion of  the  Association  the  time  and  manner  of 
its  application."  Here  was  confidence.  What  it 
meant  to  the  missionary  society  with  the  general 
distrust  that  had  been  its  lot,  can  only  be  imag- 
ined. Walking  by  faith  was  well,  but  the  sight 
of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars  in  its  treasury 
strengthened  faith  immensely. 

The  time  soon  came  when  faith  received  its 
justifications.  The  providences  of  God,  working 
together  in  natural  combination  and  dependency, 
brought  recognition  and  sympathy  with  the  posi- 
tions which  the  Association  had  maintained,  and 
when  the  slave  power  without  disguise  demanded 
that  slavery  should  be  national,  with  the  alter- 
native of  war,  the  free  country  was  ready  with 
the  reply :  "  We  cannot  consent  to  extend  and 
perpetuate  slavery.  We  cannot  permit  the  sun- 
dering of  the  nation." 

116 


"THE  MORNING  COMETH " 

Now,  it  was  not  only  evident  that  God  had 
been  educating  his  people  in  the  churches  to  a 
larger  and  better  comprehension  of  their  duty 
to  the  oppressed,  so  that  when  his  clock  of  time 
struck  the  hour  for  their  decision  they  were  ready 
for  the  question,  but  it  was  also  manifest  how 
in  the  experience  of  its  years  the  Association  had 
been  unconsciously  prepared  to  enter  upon  a  serv- 
ice, the  magnitude  and  opportunity  of  which 
would  have  staggered  its  faith,  had  not  its  pre- 
vious history  made  it  ready  to  confront  the  new 
problem  full  of  promise  and  the  new  work  full  of 
grandeur.  When  the  voice  from  heaven  came, 
"  Behold,  I  have  set  before  thee  an  open  door," 
what  could  not  have  been  done  in  the  toils  of 
centuries  now  became  possible,  and  the  Associa- 
tion, disciplined,  tried,  experienced,  and  ready, 
entered  into  its  new  inheritance  of  service.  The 
first  suggestion  of  this  was  almost  immediately 
after  President  Lincoln  had  issued  his  proclama- 
tion calling  for  troops  upon  the  bombardment  of 
Fort  Sumter.    It  read :  — 

The  whole  country  is  in  great  excitement.  War  has 
begun.  The  President  of  the  United  States  has  issued 
his  proclamation  calling  for  troops,  and  multitudinous 
hosts  are  responding  to  the  call.  When  the  war  ceases 
the  slave  states  will,  we  believe,  present  one  of  the 
grandest  fields  for  missionary  labor  the  world  ever 

117 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

furnished.  Should  the  prayers  of  the  friends  of  free- 
dom be  speedily  answered  in  the  emancipation  of  the 
slaves,  a  field  of  usefulness  may  be  opened  before  us 
that  will  call  for  renewed  exertion  on  a  greatly  in- 
creased scale  compared  with  which  our  past  efforts 
have  been  preparatory  work. 

And  before  five  months  had  elapsed  after  the 
declaration  of  war,  the  Association  announced: 
"  Providence  has,  in  a  singularly  marked  manner, 
opened  to  the  Association  special  fields  among 
the  African  race  in  Western  Africa,  in  Jamaica, 
in  Kentucky,  and  in  North  Carolina,  and  at  the 
present  time  a  new  field  of  missionary  labor  in 
Virginia  among  our  colored  people,  who  are 
under  the  protection  of  our  military  force 
there." 


118 


VII 
SCHOOLS  FOLLOWING  THE  ARMIES 


Rev.  L.  C.  Lockwood  at  Fortress  Monroe  in  1861.  — 
The  Association's  first  school.  —  Mrs.  Mary  Peake.  — 
Schools  at  Norfolk,  Newport  News,  and  other  localities. 

—  The  "  Butler  School."  —  General  Armstrong  appointed 
by  the  Association.  —  Property  purchased  by  the  Asso- 
ciation for  Hampton  Institute.  —  Hampton  begun  and 
carried  on  by  the  Association  under  General  Armstrong. 

—  Opening  schools  in  the  track  of  the  Union  armies.  — 
The  North,  East,  and  West  coming  over  to  the  position  of 
the  Association.  —  William  Jackson,  its  first  President.  — 
Lawrence  Brainard,  David  Thurston.  —  Dr.  E.  N.  Kirk 
of  Boston  elected  President  in  1865.  —  His  ringing  words 
for  the  Association.  —  The  National  Council  of  Congre- 
gational churches  acknowledge  and  approve  the  Asso- 
ciation and  ask  the  churches  for  $250,000  for  the  com- 
ing year.  —  Collecting  agencies  organized.  —  Rev.  W.  W. 
Patton,  d.d.,  and  Rev.  J.  C.  Holbrook,  d.d.,  sent  to  Great 
Britain.  —  Rev.  C.  L.  Woodworth  in  Boston,  Rev.  E.  P. 
Smith  in  Cincinnati,  and  Rev.  J.  R.  Shipherd  in  Chicago.  — 
The  Freedmen's  Bureau  and  General  O.  O.  Howard.  — 
Arthur  Tappan.  —  Enlargement  of  the  work.  —  Religious 
interests  of  the  Freedmen.  —  The  first  chapel  built  at 
Memphis,  Tennessee,  in  1866.  —  Avery  Institute,  Storrs' 
School  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  and  Lewis  Normal,  now  Bal- 
lard, in  Macon,  Georgia,  the  same  year. 


VII 
SCHOOLS    FOLLOWING   THE   ARMIES 

IN  September,  1861,  Rev.  L.  C.  Lockwood, 
commissioned  by  the  Association,  was  at 
Fortress  Monroe,  and  from  that  place 
writes,  "  I  ask  especial  interest  in  your  prayers 
that  I  may  be  endowed  with  wisdom  and  grace 
for  these  peculiar  and  momentous  responsibili- 
ties." He  makes  a  requisition  for  "  1,500  Sun- 
day-school primers  with  pictures  attached." 
"  Parents  and  children  are  delighted  with  the 
idea  of  learning  to  read."  "There  are  1,800 
contrabands  here ;  yesterday  I  opened  a  Sabbath- 
school  in  Ex-President  Tyler's  house.  Little  did 
he  think  it  would  ever  be  used  for  such  a  pur- 
pose. All  felt  that  it  was  the  beginning  of 
better  days  for  them  and  for  their  children." 

It  is  here  that  we  have  our  introduction  to 
Mrs.  Mary  Peake,  who  has  the  distinction  of 
being  the  first  teacher  of  the  first  day-school  for 
the  freedmen  in  America.  A  woman  identified 
with  the  colored  race,  though  herself  nearly 
white,  began  what  was  in  due  process  of  time 

121 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

to  become  and  to  be  known  the  world  over  as 
Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Institute. 
Mr.  Lockwood  writes :  "  A  day-school  was  com- 
menced last  Tuesday,  Sept.  17th,  with  about 
twenty  pupils,  and  since  in  one  week  increased 
to  forty  or  fifty.  It  was  suggested  by  the  chil- 
dren themselves.  Mrs.  Peake  is  a  free  woman, 
quite  light  colored,  with  qualifications  for  the 
post.  She  is  devotedly  pious  and  highly  re- 
spected among  her  own  people  in  the  commu- 
nity. She  will  make  a  good  permanent  teacher 
worthy  of  compensation.  Mrs.  Peake  had  made 
the  most  of  her  chance  for  education  in  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  before  the  schools  there  were 
closed  to  her  race,  and  in  slavery  times,  and  at 
great  personal  risk,  had  taught,  not  only  her  hus- 
band, but  scores  of  negroes  who  had  come  to 
their  cabin  by  night  to  learn  to  read." 

To  her  God  allotted  the  privilege  of  opening 
the  first  reading  and  writing  school  among  this 
peculiar  people,  and  singular  it  was  that  she 
should  have  been  identified  with  both  the  white 
and  the  colored  races.  Mrs.  Peake  was  born 
in  Norfolk,  Virginia,  in  1823.  Her  maiden  name 
was  Mary  Smith  Kelsey.  Her  mother  was  a  free 
colored  woman,  very  light,  and  her  father  a 
white  man,  an  Englishman  of  education  and  cul- 
ture.    She  was  educated  about  as  a  white  girl 

122 


SCHOOLS   FOLLOWING  THE   ARMIES 

of  good  family  would  have  been  until  she  was 
sixteen  years  of  age,  when  she  united  with  the 
First  Baptist  Church  in  Norfolk.  In  185 1  she 
was  married  to  Thomas  Peake,  formerly  a  slave, 
but  afterwards  a  free  man,  light  colored,  intel- 
ligent, pious,  and  in  every  respect  a  worthy 
husband. 

When  Mr.  Lockwood  secured  from  the  govern- 
ment a  cottage  for  a  schoolroom  with  a  family 
room  above,  Mrs.  Peake  without  pledge  of  pay 
gave  what  remained  of  a  life  that  was  ebbing 
away  to  fifty  children  every  morning  and  to  a 
large  class  of  adults  every  afternoon. 

Early  in  the  year  of  1862  Mrs.  Peake's  health 
began  to  decline,  and  when  she  learned  that  she 
must  die,  she  sent  her  love  to  the  Executive  Com- 
mittee of  the  Association  in  New  York  and  to 
all  her  friends  of  the  Mission,  saying  that  she 
was  "assured  that  their  cause  would  triumph; 
that  the  Association  was  sowing  seed  which 
would  spring  up  and  become  a  great  tree  for 
the  shelter  of  a  down-trodden  people."  What 
would  Mrs.  Peake  have  said  could  she  have  seen 
the  evolution  from  her  first  teaching  to  the  pres- 
ent greatness  of  Hampton  Institute? 

I  quote  from  Miss  Helen  Ludlow :  "  From  the 
room  above  the  school,  on  Saturday,  February  22, 
1862,  as  the  '  All 's  well '  of  the  midnight  watch 

123 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

sounded  through  the  window  of  the  cottage  from 
the  war-ships  in  the  Roads,  her  brave  soul  crossed 
the  bar.  Two  more  weeks,  and  the  early  gath- 
ering Sunday-school  of  the  '  Brown  Cottage ' 
trooped  after  Mr.  Lockwood  to  the  shore's  edge 
to  watch  with  hundreds  of  praying  refugees  the 
battle  of  the  Monitor  and  the  Merrimac." 

Other  teachers  were  soon  sent  down  by  the 
Association  and  Mrs.  Peake's  pioneer  school  be- 
came the  nucleus  of  a  school  which  soon  num- 
bered over  three  hundred  pupils,  to  hold  which 
the  walls  of  the  burned  court-house  were  roofed 
and  repaired  by  the  Association  and  dedicated  to 
their  new  use  in  October,  1862. 

When  the  supreme  event  of  the  war  came  on 
January  1,  1863,  confirming  the  freedom  of  those 
who  were  under  the  protection  of  our  armies 
and  proclaiming  the  emancipation  of  all  who 
were  in  slavery,  the  eager  cry  for  education  was 
heard  everywhere  throughout  the  South.  The 
Association  was  not  slow  in  responding.  In  ad- 
dition to  Hampton,  schools *  were  opened  at  Nor- 
folk and   Newport  News,   Portsmouth,   Suffolk 

1  The  second  school  in  the  South  opened  under  Northern  teachers  for 
colored  people  was  at  Hilton  Head  early  in  the  year  1862.  A  party  of 
teachers  sent  from  Boston  under  the  direction  of  Edward  L.  Pierce,  three 
of  whom  were  graduates  of  Yale,  opened  schools  on  the  Sea  Islands, 
several  of  which  continue  until  now.  Prominent  among  these  pioneer 
teachers  was  Rev.  W.  E.  Park,  n.  d.,  then  of  Andover,  Massachusetts, 
who  was  stationed  at  St.  Helena  Island. 

I24 


SCHOOLS   FOLLOWING  THE   ARMIES 

and  Yorktown,  Virginia;  in  Beaufort,  Hilton 
Head,  St.  Helena,  Port  Royal,  South  Carolina, 
and  at  Washington,  following  the  army  closely. 
The  year  closed  with  eighty-three  teachers  and 
missionaries.  At  Hampton,  General  Butler  or- 
dered the  construction  of  a  larger  schoolhouse, 
which  was  turned  over  to  the  Association  in  1865 
by  General  O.  O.  Howard,  who  was  then  commis- 
sioner of  the  Freedmen's  Bureau,  and  the  Hamp- 
ton court-house,  which  had  been  used  as  a 
schoolhouse,  was  given  back  to  the  town  by  the 
United  States  government.  The  little  school 
of  the  Association,  now  grown  to  a  classified 
body  of  over  six  hundred  pupils,  under  the  super- 
intendence of  Rev.  Charles  P.  Day,  with  a  corps 
of  missionary  teachers,  was  again  in  the  loca- 
tion where  it  began.  It  was  still  called  the  "Butler 
School." 

On  the  1 2th  of  March,  1866,  Brigadier-General 
S.  C.  Armstrong,  late  Colonel  of  the  Eighth 
United  States  Colored  Troops,  arrived  at  Hamp- 
ton to  take  charge  as  Freedmen's  Bureau  Super- 
intendent of  ten  counties  in  tide-water,  Virginia, 
with  headquarters  there.  The  interests  of  the 
"  Butler  School  "  and  other  freedmen's  schools  in 
his  extensive  district  were  part  of  his  varied 
charge.  His  reports  bearing  frequent  testimony 
to  The  American  Missionary  Association  as  the 

125 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

greatest  financial  power  interested  in  negro  edu- 
cation, suggested  that  Hampton  was  the  spot  for 
a  permanent  and  great  educational  work,  and  rec- 
ommended that  a  valuable  estate  called  "  Little 
Scotland,"  comprising  one  hundred  and  fifty-nine 
acres  fronting  on  Hampton  River  and  then  in 
the  market,  be  purchased.  The  Association,  upon 
consideration,  decided  to  do  this,  and  to  found 
an  institution  which  should  combine  a  practical 
schoolroom  education  with  mental  and  moral 
uplift  of  industrial  training  and  self-help. 

The  Association  was  the  more  ready  to  meet 
this  suggestion  of  General  Armstrong,  since  the 
theory  was  not  a  new  one  to  the  committee.  The 
Rev.  Josiah  Brewer  had  championed  these  fea- 
tures of  missionary  endeavor  both  for  the  mis- 
sions in  Africa  and  in  Jamaica,  and  they  had 
been  adopted  and  carried  out  on  a  small  scale 
in  both  places  with  such  advantage  as  the  local 
direction  in  these  missions  made  possible.  The 
Association  had  also  at  that  time  arranged  for 
an  agricultural  department  at  Talladega.  As  the 
one  whom  the  Executive  Committee  had  consid- 
ered for  principal  declined,  they  realized  at  once 
that  General  Armstrong  was  a  born  master,  and 
decided  that  if  he  could  be  secured  to  direct  the 
new  enterprise,  there  would  be  no  question  as 
to  its  successful  administration. 

126 


General  S.  C.  Armstrong  at  thk  Age  of  Thirty-three 


SCHOOLS   FOLLOWING  THE  ARMIES 

"  Not  expecting  to  have  charge  but  only  to  help, 
I  was  surprised  one  day,"  wrote  Armstrong  in 
his  biography,  "  to  receive  a  letter  from  Secre- 
tary Smith  of  The  American  Missionary  Associa- 
tion, stating  that  the  man  selected  for  the  place 
had  declined,  and  asking  if  I  would  take  it.  I 
wrote  '  Yes.'  Till  then  my  future  had  been  blind ; 
it  had  been  made  clear  that  there  was  a  work  to 
be  done  for  the  ex-slave  and  where  and  how 
to  do  it." 

While  the  matter  of  the  full  purchase  money 
for  "  Little  Scotland  "  was  "  hanging  in  the  air," 
the  executor  of  the  Avery  estate,  in  which  was 
a  legacy  of  $250,000  for  negro  education  from 
the  man  who  had  already  made  large  contribu- 
tions to  The  American  Missionary  Association, 
"  at  the  suggestion  of  the  Association  paid  a  visit 
to  Hampton."  He  was  impressed  with  the  adapt- 
ability of  the  location  to  institutional  purposes, 
and  shortly  after  gave  to  The  American  Mission- 
ary Association  the  $10,000  which  were  still 
needed  for  the  purchase.  The  property  was 
added  to  the  $9,000  already  in  hand.  This  was 
the  material  beginning  of  Hampton.  With  Gen- 
eral Armstrong  as  principal,  the  school  began 
its  phenomenally  successful  life. 

While  these  events  were  transpiring  a  flatter- 
ing offer  was  made  to  General  Armstrong  to 

127 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

take  charge  of  Howard  University  at  Washing- 
ton. In  his  autobiography  he  writes :  "  I  refused 
for  two  reasons.  First,  I  was  in  honor  bound 
to  The  American  Missionary  Association  that  had 
so  warmly  supported  me  here  and  carried  out 
all  my  plans.  Secondly,  I  consider  my  own  enter- 
prise here  has  better  possibilities  (is  more  central 
with  reference  to  freedmen  and  has  important 
advantages)." 

Academic  Hall  was  erected  in  1870,  and  the 
same  year  the  young  institution  was  incorporated 
as  "  Hampton  Normal  and  Agricultural  Insti- 
tute." In  view  of  General  Armstrong's  mas- 
terful activity  and  administrative  gifts,  the 
Association,  in  February,  1872,  made  over  the 
title  to  the  property  to  a  board  of  trustees,  of 
which  Secretary  George  Whipple  was  the  presi- 
dent. The  story  of  Hampton  under  the  direction 
of  General  Armstrong  does  not  need  to  be  told 
here.  It  has  interwoven  its  history  with  that  of 
the  nation.  The  Association  is  happy  and  grate- 
ful in  the  splendid  development  and  far-reaching 
and  blessed  influence  of  its  first  child  —  the  first 
school  planted  by  the  North  for  the  education 
of  the  children  of  slavery. 

Alert  to  opportunity,  every  advance  of  the 
army  meant  a  corresponding  one  for  the  Asso- 
ciation.   The  year  1864  was  marked  by  the  elec- 

128 


Hon.  William  Jackson 


SCHOOLS   FOLLOWING  THE  ARMIES 

tion  of  Rev.  M.  E.  Strieby  as  corresponding 
secretary  with  Dr.  Whipple,  the  addition  of 
schools  at  Memphis,  Tennessee;  New  Orleans, 
and  Port  Hudson,  Louisiana;  Vicksburg  and 
Natchez,  Mississippi;  Little  Rock  and  Helena, 
Arkansas.  The  track  of  the  Union  armies  can 
thus  be  traced  by  that  of  the  close-following 
teachers  and  missionaries,  many  of  whom  were 
the  bravest  of  brave  young  women.  The  num- 
ber of  these  had  increased  to  two  hundred  and 
fifty.  The  thing  which  was  anathema  but  a  score 
of  years  ago  had  now  become  the  model  of  true 
patriotism.  The  contested  convictions  of  1846 
were  the  gospel  of  1864.  The  people  who  in  the 
face  of  opposition  had  kept  on  preaching  right- 
eousness saw  the  entire  North  and  East  and  West 
coming  to  its  side.  The  men  of  1846  were  no 
longer  misguided  reformers ;  they  were  prophets. 
One  of  these,  who  died  in  1855,  was  the  first 
president  of  the  Association  for  eight  years. 

William  Jackson  was  born  at  Newton,  Mas- 
sachusetts, in  1783.  He  engaged  in  business  in 
Boston  at  an  early  age,  was  prominent  as  a 
member  of  the  Massachusetts  legislature,  and 
was  the  principal  agent  in  constructing  the  Provi- 
dence and  Worcester  Railroad.  Subsequently, 
while  a  member  of  Congress,  he  became  familiar 
with  the  movements  of  the  slave  power,  and  as 
9  129 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

a  consequence  was  one  of  its  most  determined 
opponents.  Against  the  remonstrances  of  his 
political  friends  in  the  Whig  party,  with  whom 
he  had  always  acted,  amidst  much  obloquy,  he 
united  with  the  Liberty  party  and  was  their  first 
candidate  for  governor  of  Massachusetts.  Those 
who  disliked  his  adherence  to  his  principles  were 
constrained  to  acknowledge  his  sincerity,  honesty, 
and  consistency.  The  strength  of  all  his  excel- 
lences was  in  his  decided  and  uniform  Christian 
character.  When  in  Congress,  he  belonged  to 
the  small  band  of  members  that  met  regularly 
for  devotional  exercises.  During  his  last  illness 
he  said :  "  I  never  felt  so  fully  the  value  and 
importance  of  antislavery  labors  as  I  do  now. 
Nothing  gives  me  so  sweet  a  satisfaction  in  look- 
ing back  as  my  labors  in  the  antislavery  cause. 
I  am  thankful  that  I  did  not  follow  the  fashion 
in  that  matter." 

William  Jackson  was  followed  in  the  presi- 
dency of  the  Association  by  Hon.  Lawrence 
Brainard  of  Vermont.  Rev.  David  Thurston  of 
Maine  was  the  third  president.  These  all  serving 
with  a  faith  that  never  faltered  and  with  a  fidel- 
ity which  only  a  great  faith  could  insure,  awaited 
the  justifications  of  God. 

In  the  nineteenth  Annual  Report  in  1865  we 
find  the  Association  rejoicing  in  the  presidency 

130 


SCHOOLS   FOLLOWING  THE  ARMIES 

of  Rev.  E.  N.  Kirk,  d.d.,  of  Boston.  Those  who 
had  preceded  him  had  not  found  the  position  one 
of  unquestioned  honor.  They  could  often  say 
with  the  apostle,  "  As  it  is  written,  The  reproaches 
of  them  that  reproached  thee  fell  on  me."  The 
bombardment  of  Fort  Sumter  had  been  heard 
by  many  who  had  never  listened  to  the  speakers 
from  the  Association's  platform,  and  when  the 
mission  schools  were  organized  in  the  footsteps  of 
our  soldiers,  the  conversions  to  the  principles  and 
work  of  the  Association  were  frequent  and  happy. 
But  when  in  1865  Dr.  Kirk  was  elected  president 
of  the  Association,  it  was  on  his  part  no  recent 
conversion.  In  the  published  story  of  his  life 
we  read  that  when  he  was  seventeen  and  a  half 
years  of  age,  in  his  senior  year  at  Princeton  Col- 
lege, —  when  Wendell  Phillips  was  a  child  of 
nine  years,  and  full  twenty-one  years  before 
Joshua  Giddings  made  his  first  speech  upon 
slavery,  and  twenty-six  years  before  the  Asso- 
ciation was  born,  —  Edward  Norris  Kirk  took 
the  position  from  which  he  never  swerved. 
The  nation  at  this  time  was  attent  upon  the 
"Missouri  Compromise."  At  Princeton  College 
it  required  courage  for  a  student  to  stand  forth 
and  say  of  slavery :  "  What  an  employment  is 
this  for  a  free-born  American  who  professes 
to    esteem    liberty   more   than   life   itself!     Let 

131 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

me  call  on  every  American  to  bring  the  case 
home  to  himself.  Think  how  ineffably  distress- 
ing their  situation  is:  sold  like  beasts  and  sub- 
jected to  the  lash  of  the  cruel,  mercenary  master 
wherever  it  suits  his  caprice.  Bring  this  home; 
I  repeat  it.  Suppose  you  were  thus  treated,  I  ask 
what  would  your  feelings  be  and  what  would 
be  your  actions  ?  If  instant  despair  did  not  cease, 
would  you  not  risk  even  your  life  to  escape? 
Who,  then,  will  dispute  whether  slavery  shall  be 
checked  or  extended,  that  is,  whether  Missouri 
shall  or  shall  not  be  admitted  to  the  rights  of 
a  state  without  the  restrictions  of  slavery?" 

More  than  two-score  years  after  this  youth- 
ful utterance  was  .iade  the  eminent  pastor  of 
Mount  Vernon  Church  in  Boston  did  not  fear  to 
speak,  but  he  was  cautious.  Nine-tenths  of  the 
Congregational  ministers  were  comparatively 
silent,  hoping  that  the  question  might  be  set- 
tled by  some  compromise  or  by  some  peaceable 
change  which  should  eventuate  in  the  destruc- 
tion of  slavery.  When,  however,  in  1854,  it 
was  moved  in  Congress  to  repeal  the  Missouri 
Compromise  and  decree  slavery  to  Kansas  and 
Nebraska,  Dr.  Kirk  could  no  longer  hope  against 
hope  that  the  South  would  come  to  a  better  mind. 
Thoroughly  antislavery  before,  he  now  was  out- 
spoken.    His  sermons  and  addresses  ring  with 

132 


Hon.   Lawrence  Lkainakd 


SCHOOLS   FOLLOWING  THE  ARMIES 

calls  to  the  people  in  behalf  of  the  doctrines  of 
liberty  and  brotherhood,  and  the  city  of  Charles 
Sumner  and  Wendell  Phillips  had  no  more  earn- 
est champion  of  the  principles  for  which  The 
American  Missionary  Association  was  standing 
than  Dr.  Kirk.  It  was  fitting  then,  after  ten 
years  of  noble  testimony  on  his  part,  during 
which  slavery  had  been  destroyed,  that  he  should 
honor  the  representative  position  of  president  of 
the  Association  with  its  history  of  struggle  for 
nineteen  years.  He  closed  his  discourse  —  the 
annual  sermon  —  by  saying :  "  We  are  to  do  our 
part  in  forming  a  correct  public  sentiment.  This 
is  the  sovereign  in  this  country  before  whom  noth- 
ing can  stand.  Assert  the  manhood  of  the  negro ; 
make  it  appear  horrible  to  defraud  him,  as  it  is 
to  defraud  a  white  man  of  his  rights.  Insist 
that  every  human  being  on  this  part  of  God's 
earth  shall  stand  on  a  perfect  level  with  every 
other  man  before  the  law."  Could  Dr.  Kirk 
have  left  a  better  legacy  of  counsel  for  the  As- 
sociation in  these  last  days? 

It  was  during  this  year  that  the  Congrega- 
tional National  Council  which  met  in  Boston  in 
June  recommended  the  Association  to  the  Con- 
gregational churches,  and  asked  that  $250,000 
for  the  year  might  be  contributed  to  it.  As 
yet  the  Association  was  without  adequate  agen- 
ts 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

cies  for  collecting  the  funds,  and  the  first 
step  was  taken  to  perfect  its  organization  for 
this  purpose.  Rev.  J.  C.  Holbrook,  d.d.,  and 
Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  d.d.,  were  invited  to  rep- 
resent the  Association  in  England  and  Scot- 
land. Since  over  $100,000  had  been  contributed 
and  used  in  the  British  island  of  Jamaica  by 
the  Association  for  the  missionary  work  there 
among  the  blacks,  it  was  felt  that  now  our 
Christian  friends  in  Great  Britain  would  cor- 
dially respond  to  opportunities  and  demands 
which  had  come  through  the  emancipation  of 
slaves  here. 

Three  district  secretaries  were  also  appointed: 
Rev.  C.  L.  Woodworth,  to  be  located  in  Boston, 
Rev.  E.  P.  Smith  in  Cincinnati,  and  Rev.  J.  R. 
Shipherd  in  Chicago.  The  deputation  to  Great 
Britain  was  successful,  and,  with  the  other 
agencies,  the  aggregate  cash  collections  for  the 
year  lacked  but  ten  per  cent  of  the  $250,000 
recommended  by  the  National  Council.  Most 
efficient  aid  and  encouragement  were  rendered  by 
Major  General  O.  O.  Howard,  the  head  of  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau.  This  conscientious  Chris- 
tian officer,  in  his  devotion  to  the  higher  interests 
of  the  freedmen,  in  his  impartial  attention  to  all 
who  were  laboring  for  their  good,  in  his  able 
administration  of  the  Bureau  with  its  untried 

i34 


Edward  N.  Kirk,  D.U. 


SCHOOLS   FOLLOWING   THE   ARMIES 

difficulties  and  perplexities,  well  deserved  the 
thanks  of  the  whole  country  and  the  gratitude 
of  the  emancipated  people. 

It  is  well  to  remember,  as  we  pass,  those  who 
pointed  the  way  to  this  liberty  which  was  now 
everywhere  accepted.  Perhaps  the  most  promi- 
nent was  Arthur  Tappan.  It  was  on  the  Lord's 
Day,  July  23  of  this  year,  1865,  that  this  great 
Christian  philanthropist,  the  early  tried  and  faith- 
ful advocate  of  the  freedom  of  the  slave,  in  his 
eightieth  year  ceased  from  his  earthly  life.  He 
more  than  any  other  had  made  the  Mendi  Mis- 
sion possible.  Doubtless  no  one  person  was  more 
responsible  than  he  for  the  organization  of  the 
Association  in  1846.  His  influence  likewise  was 
incalculable  in  preventing  the  antislavery  people 
at  that  period  from  turning  away  from  the 
churches  when  the  churches  were  slow  in  in- 
dorsing their  principles. 

Arthur  Tappan  was  a  charter  member  of  the 
Association,  one  of  its  vice-presidents,  and  al- 
ways, from  1846  to  the  time  of  his  death,  an 
influential  member  of  the  executive  committee. 
His  life  was  interwoven  with  the  first  twenty 
years  of  the  Association's  history.  Born  in  1783 
in  Northampton,  Massachusetts,  he  had  conse- 
crated himself  at  the  age  of  thirty  years,  all 
he  was  and  all  he  had,  all  he  might  become 

i35 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

and  secure,  in  devotion  to  Christ  and  through 
him  to  his  fellow  men.  From  this  time  there 
seemed  to  be  no  limit  to  his  endeavors  to  prove 
his  discipleship.  Entering  into  business  in 
Portland,  Maine,  and  subsequently  in  Montreal 
until  1817,  when  he  established  himself  as 
a  silk  merchant  in  New  York,  he  had  already- 
evinced  his  energy  and  large  powers.  For 
twenty  years  onward  his  successful  career  made 
him  one  of  the  most  prosperous  of  the  distin- 
guished merchants  of  the  city.  He  had  the  con- 
fidence of  all  in  his  unbending  integrity,  while 
his  business  extended  throughout  the  whole  coun- 
try. His  benevolences  were  wide-spread  and 
large  in  Christian  causes.  In  the  great  com- 
mercial crisis  of  1857  he  suffered  immense  losses, 
but  he  still  retained  his  ability  to  contribute  gen- 
erously to  the  Association  and  all  other  benevo- 
lences, though  on  a  diminished  scale  during  his 
protracted  life.  It  was  he  who  in  the  early 
struggles  of  Oberlin  College  sent  to  them  Presi- 
dent Finney,  who  at  his  death  wrote,  "  Although 
Arthur  Tappan  failed  to  do  for  Oberlin  all  that 
he  intended,  yet  his  promise  was  the  condition  of 
the  existence  of  Oberlin  as  it  has  been."  His 
wise  counsels,  his  energetic  determination  and 
generous  contributions  made  him  the  strongest 
and  most  influential  friend  of  the  Association 

136 


SCHOOLS   FOLLOWING   THE   ARMIES 

during  all  of  its  struggling  and  often  stirring 
history  of  twenty  years. 

For  thirty  years  he  had  been  a  shining  mark 
for  every  weapon  of  insult  and  abuse  that  op- 
pression could  wield.  "  Thief,"  "  hypocrite," 
"  incendiary,"  "  fanatic "  were  in  the  familiar 
vocabulary  with  which  he  was  wont  to  be  pelted. 
His  only  retort  was  the  constant  bestowment  of 
thousands  from  his  wealth  in  evidence  of  heroic 
fidelity  to  his  convictions  of  duty.  He  outlived 
the  largeness  of  his  material  fortune,  but  he  also 
outlived  the  narrow  and  hateful  criticisms  which 
these  convictions  brought  to  him.  More;  he  had 
outlived  the  iniquity  of  slavery  which  he  had  so 
keenly  realized.  He  had  held  out  against  popu- 
lar sentiments  and  the  tyranny  of  commercial 
greed  until  the  nation  had  come  to  see  and  feel 
the  righteousness  for  which  he  had  prayed  and 
lived.  He  did  not  die  until  his  eyes  had  seen  the 
salvation  of  the  Lord  and  he  was  ready  to  say, 
"  Now  lettest  thou  thy  servant  depart  in  peace." 

The  executive  committee  of  the  Association 
placed  upon  their  permanent  records  the  deep 
"  appreciation  of  his  distinguished  liberality  and 
his  earnest  labors  and  sacrifices  for  the  freedom 
of  the  slave  and  the  welfare  of  the  oppressed. 
His  benevolence  knew  no  distinction  of  race, 
clime,  condition,  or  color,  and  we  gratefully  ex- 

i37 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

press  our  thanks  to  the  Almighty  God  that  he 
was  permitted  to  witness  with  exultation  the 
downfall  of  the  accursed  system  against  which 
he  had  so  long  striven." 

The  Rev.  Dr.  Leonard  Bacon,  in  a  discourse 
preached  a  week  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Tappan, 
outlining  his  great  life,  said:  "Of  course,  his 
name  in  every  part  of  the  country  was  associ- 
ated with  all  terms  of  opprobrium.  The  memo- 
rable anti-abolition  riots  in  the  city  of  New  York 
raged  with  special  fury  against  him.  But  no 
violence  could  move  him  from  the  cause  he  had 
deliberately  taken  in  the  fear  of  God.  Year  by 
year  it  became  manifest  that  the  churches  and 
their  ministry,  whether  right  or  wrong  in  their 
judgments,  were  not  apostate  from  Christ,  and 
that  the  people  of  the  North,  however  they  might 
have  been  misled,  were  not  false  to  liberty.  All 
this  our  venerable  friend  observed  with  growing 
thankfulness,  and  when  the  war  was  ended  in  the 
vindication  of  constitutional  liberty  and  in  the 
complete  extinction  of  slavery,,  his  joy  was  full." 
With  the  memory  of  Arthur  Tappan  preserved, 
the  Association  will  keep  its  rudder  true  in  all 
seas. 

With  the  accession  of  funds,  the  work  of  the 
Association  now  greatly  enlarged.  Schools  at 
Wilmington,  North  Carolina;  Savannah,  Geor- 

138 


Arthur  Tappan 


SCHOOLS   FOLLOWING   THE   ARMIES 

gia;  and  Jacksonville,  Florida,  were  added.  The 
250  teachers  and  missionaries  had  become  320, 
and  these  in  1866  had  increased  to  353,  the  states 
of  Maryland,  Kentucky,  Missouri,  Alabama, 
and  Texas  having  been  added  to  those  already 
entered. 

At  the  same  time  the  religious  advancement  of 
the  freedmen  was  going  forward,  though  less  ob- 
viously. It  was  clearly  seen  that  in  the  real  prog- 
ress of  religion,  anything  reasonable,  stable,  and 
permanent  must  begin  and  keep  pace  with  Chris- 
tian education.  If  emphasis  appears  to  have 
been  placed  upon  the  schools,  it  was  because  they 
were  the  foundation  for  churches.  Fidelity  to 
the  spiritual  nature  of  these  poor  people  was 
largely  —  almost  entirely  —  dependent  upon  en- 
lightenment of  the  mind.  But  from  the  first 
the  school  was  an  embryo  church.  Every-day 
services  and  Sunday-schools  found  their  home  in 
the  schoolhouse. 

In  1866  the  first  chapel  built  by  the  Associa- 
tion in  the  South  for  the  special  use  of  the  col- 
ored people  was  opened  at  Memphis,  Tennessee. 
It  was  burned  with  all  the  colored  churches  in 
Memphis  in  a  riot  against  the  race  that  same 
year.  A  lot  also  was  secured  for  a  church  in 
Atlanta,  Georgia. 

The  first  notice  of  the  school  that  is  now  Avery 
i39 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Institute  was  given  in  the  Charleston  Daily  Nezvs 
in  May,  1866.  It  is  interesting  as  a  picture  of 
the  time,  a  single  year  after  the  close  of  the 
war:  — 

We  received  an  invitation  to  be  present  at  the  ex- 
amination of  the  colored  school  in  the  Normal  build- 
ing on  Thursday  afternoon.  The  scene  was  novel : 
colored  "  exhibitors  "  in  Charleston  are  still  in  their 
infancy.  The  school  is  supported  by  The  American 
Missionary  Association  of  New  York.  Rev.  F.  L. 
Cardozo,  a  native  of  this  city,  who  finished  his  studies 
at  the  University  of  Glasgow,  is  the  principal,  as- 
sisted by  a  corps  of  twenty  teachers,  ten  of  whom  are 
from  the  North  and  the  remainder  colored  natives 
from  Charleston.  The  school  has  about  one  thousand 
pupils  with  an  average  daily  attendance  of  eight  hun- 
dred. The  studies  comprise  the  entire  range  of  ele- 
mentary branches  from  the  English  primer  to  the 
Latin  grammar.  The  institution  was  opened  in  Oc- 
tober, 1865.  One-fourth  of  the  pupils  were  born  free, 
and  these  comprise  the  more  advanced  classes.  The 
school,  therefore,  must  not  be  considered  as  giving  a 
fair  average  of  colored  education  in  this  city.  As  it 
is  the  design  to  make  this  a  school  for  the  education 
of  teachers,  the  best  material  has  been  retained  so  far 
as  practicable  and  the  remainder  sent  to  other  schools. 
Thus  in  some  of  the  classes  scarcely  a  single  pure 
black  is  seen.  The  greater  number  in  the  more  ad- 
vanced classes  are  very  fair,  but  all  hues  are  repre- 
sented. All  were  very  neat  and  well  dressed,  and 
bore  themselves  with  great  credit  to  themselves  and 
to  their  teachers. 

140 


SCHOOLS   FOLLOWING  THE  ARMIES 

A  school  in  Atlanta,  Georgia,  afterwards 
named  "  Storrs  School,"  and  dedicated  in  1867, 
and  which  continued  till  1905,  giving  a  good 
foundation  for  advanced  education  to  thousands, 
and  also  one  in  Macon  then  named  Lewis  Normal 
but  now  called  Ballard  Normal,  sent  in  their  first 
reports  this  year. 


141 


VIII 
POLICY   AND    DEVELOPMENT 


Long  looks  forward.  —  Permanent  policy  adopted  and 
reasons.  —  Theory  and  methods  of  education  for  an  un- 
developed people.  —  Higher  institutions  needed  to  prepare 
teachers  and  preachers.  —  Fisk  University  founded  in 
Nashville,  Tennessee,  in  1866.  —  The  story  of  Fisk  Uni- 
versity and  its  subsequent  history.  —  General  Clinton  B. 
Fisk.  —  President  Cravath.  —  Professor  Bennett.  —  Spence 
and  Chase.  —  Plans  in  education  to  include  handicrafts 
and  industries. 


VIII 
POLICY   AND    DEVELOPMENT 

AT  first  the  Association  opened  temporary 
/""%  schools  in  barracks  and  warerooms  be- 
longing to  the  army  and  in  such  confis- 
cated buildings  as  could  be  secured.  The  teach- 
ing was  very  elementary  and  the  work  plain. 
The  mission  had  meant  simply  attention  to  the 
immediate  pressing  duty.  The  work  in  hand 
claimed  the  entire  attention.  But  when  it  be- 
came more  complex,  it  was  realized  that  the 
enthusiasm  and  missionary  consecration  which 
for  short  periods  of  service  had  been  so  ready 
and  free,  must  become  a  permanent  factor ;  that 
it  must  have  concentration  for  efficiency  and 
careful  supervision  and  direction  for  economy. 
Thorough  organization  and  concentration  became 
missionary  wisdom.  Not  only  were  the  relative 
fields  to  be  considered,  but  the  relative  needs  of 
the  varied  parts.  There  must  be  long  looks  for- 
ward, for  it  was  evident  that  millions  of  people 
whose  antecedents  were  barbarism  and  centuries 
of  slavery  could  not  be  upraised  to  Christian 
civilization  and  privilege  by  ever  so  much  mere 

i45 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

elementary  education.  It  was  missionary  strat- 
egy to  collect  the  scattered  forces  that  were  tem- 
porarily distributed  in  rural  districts,  reaching 
only  obscure  localities  and  hamlets  as  they  had 
followed  the  armies. 

The  question  now  had  come  before  the  Asso- 
ciation as  to  what  should  be  the  permanent  policy 
—  the  principles  not  only,  but  the  methods,  of 
their  new  missionary  endeavor.  So  far  the  Asso- 
ciation had  made  less  account  of  the  future  than 
it  did  of  the  fact  that  God  was  leading  on,  and 
that  the  Association  was  assuredly  following  that 
leading.  But  now  it  was  face  to  face  with  a  long 
future.  No  transient  purpose  and  no  transient 
work  would  do.  The  salvation  of  an  absolutely 
undeveloped  race  with  a  long  heredity  of  igno- 
rance, superstition,  and  degradation  meant  gen- 
erations as  to  time  and  called  for  permanent 
institutions.  This  at  once  introduced  the  theory 
and  methods  of  education  and  indicated  what 
should  be  attempted.  The  prophetic  men  who 
were  directing  the  Association  believed  that 
what  experience  had  proved  to  be  wise  and 
efficient  influences  for  Christianizing  and  civiliz- 
ing white  people  ought  to  be  equally  good  for 
black  people.  Indeed,  the  evidence  already  be- 
fore them  seemed  to  be  sufficient  to  justify  this 
judgment.    The  Association  had  gone  far  enough 

146 


POLICY   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

to  confirm  the  opinion  that  the  black  people  could 
be  enlarged  in  thought  and  mind  by  the  same 
influences  and  methods  of  discipline  which  had 
proved  their  power  in  other  peoples;  this  much 
against  the  opinions  of  the  Southern  people,  who 
held  for  the  most  part  to  the  essential  incapacity 
of  their  former  slaves  for  anything  beyond  ele- 
mentary improvement.  At  all  events,  said  these 
men  in  the  direction  of  the  Association,  we  must 
work  toward  the  possibilities.  No  race  can  be 
permanently  dependent  upon  another  race  for  its 
ultimate  development.  This  negro  race  must  be 
taught  to  save  itself  and  how  to  do  it;  to  work 
out  its  own  future  with  its  own  teachers  and  edu- 
cators. Therefore,  reliance  must  be  placed  on 
permanent  institutions  and  permanent  teachers 
for  them,  and  for  the  steady  and  determined  con- 
secration of  those  ready  to  take  up  the  work  with 
this  high  conception  of  it.  Evidently  it  would  not 
be  within  the  power  of  this  Association  or  any 
other  to  upraise  the  masses  numbering  millions 
by  a  sheer  dead  lift.  It  could  not  be  wisdom  to 
undertake  this.  Our  work  must  be  to  save  those 
who  will  go  out  and  save  others,  and  for  this  they 
must  have  wisdom  and  strength.  The  elementary 
work  must  be  given  to  teachers  of  their  own  race 
as  soon  as  they  can  be  ready  to  take  it.  The  com- 
mon schools,  which  at  first  sprang  up  in  great 

i47 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

numbers,  must  give  way  to  graded  schools ;  these 
graded  schools  must  take  on  normal  departments 
with  teachers  of  experience  and  devotion  who 
shall  prepare  their  pupils  for  such  instruction  as 
they  in  turn  may  impart  in  smaller  places.  This 
theory  at  once  made  necessary  higher  institutions 
with  the  collegiate  intention,  which  should  receive 
exceptional  pupils  prepared  at  the  secondary 
schools  who  were  approved  and  encouraged  by 
their  teachers  to  seek  exceptional  education. 
Meanwhile,  parochial  schools  must  be  continued 
in  connection  with  the  little  churches  of  ignorant 
people,  the  teachers  working  in  the  churches  as 
well  as  in  the  schools. 

For  this  plan  of  permanent  efficiency  it  be- 
came necessary  to  provide  the  schools  with 
"  Teachers'  Homes,"  as  it  was  impossible  other- 
wise for  those  who  were  willing  to  teach  col- 
ored people  to  secure  board  and  shelter.  These 
were  intended  to  be,  not  only  homes  for  teachers, 
but  "  social  settlements "  also  for  those  who 
needed  to  be  taught  how  to  live,  —  centers  of 
Christian  evangelism  and  missionary  endeavor. 
From  these  should  go  out  the  influence  of  per- 
sonal character  and  example  in  home  life.  The 
emphasis  of  the  service  from  first  to  last  was  to 
be  on  the  word  "  missionary,"  and  with  the  les- 
sons in  schools  it  was  to  be  religion  all  the  week, 

148 


POLICY  AND   DEVELOPMENT 

permeating  and  vitalizing  character;  a  mighty 
social  and  civic  movement  as  well  as  a  positively 
Christian  one. 

The  fathers  of  forty  years  ago  anticipated  the 
criticisms  of  later  years  as  to  the  wisdom  of  col- 
leges for  the  development  of  a  backward  race. 
So,  they  said,  let  it  be  granted  that  other  lines 
of  education  are  imperative;  colleges  also  cer- 
tainly are  needed,  and  we  must  set  the  standards 
for  the  education  of  the  race  now!  Thorough 
training,  large  knowledge,  and  the  best  culture 
possible  are  needed  to  invigorate,  direct,  purify, 
and  broaden  life;  needed  for  the  wise  adminis- 
tration of  citizenship,  the  duties  of  which  are  as 
sure  to  come  as  the  sun  is  to  shine,  though  to-day 
or  to-morrow  may  be  cloudy;  needed  to  over- 
come narrowness,  one-sidedness,  and  incomplete- 
ness. 

They  took  their  theories  of  education  from 
their  estimates  of  men.  If  what  "  is  possible  " 
was  to  be  demonstrated,  there  must  be  institu- 
tions for  those  whose  gifts,  attainments,  char- 
acter, and  example  should  make  them  a  constant 
and  large  uplifting  hope  for  others ;  a  steadying 
power  and  a  wise  guidance  for  those  not  equally 
privileged  or  endowed,  and  which  should  give 
opportunity  for  the  youth  of  the  future,  whose 
intellectual   capacity   might   justify   the   largest 

149 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

mental  furnishing.  Therefore,  they  said,  edu- 
cate, educate,  educate!  in  all  ways,  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest,  for  whatever  is  possible 
for  a  full-orbed  manhood  and  womanhood.  This, 
of  course,  predicated  the  education  of  the  highest 
part  of  one's  nature.  Their  theory  was  right. 
If  education  does  not  make  for  spiritual  life  and 
spiritual  power,  it  is  lamentably  insufficient. 
Therefore,  the  gospel  of  Christ  was  to  be  put  into 
every  study,  into  every  science,  into  every  line  of 
thought,  and  into  every  form  of  work.  The  hope 
of  the  race  must  find  itself  by  being  in  the  cur- 
rents of  God's  holy  love  and  will  and  providence. 
In  accordance  with  these  views  the  first  year 
after  peace  was  declared  a  school  was  opened 
in  1866  with  the  exalted  name  of  Fisk  University. 
It  is  mentioned  in  the  records  as  a  "  Colored  High 
School,"  held  in  the  buildings  previously  used  as 
a  military  hospital.  Nashville  was  then  a  mili- 
tary cam'p  under  the  command  of  the  late  General 
Clinton  B.  Fisk.    The  record  reads :  — 

This  Association,  already  endeared  to  the  colored 
people,  has  purchased  a  parcel  of  ground  in  the  western 
part  of  the  city,  and  has  procured  extensive  buildings 
from  the  government,  in  which  will  be  opened  for 
colored  children  graded  schools,  a  normal  school,  and 
in  time  a  first-class  college.  This  broad  Christian 
foundation  will  exert  a  widespread  influence  upon  the 

150 


POLICY   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

city  of  Nashville  and  the  state  of  Tennessee.  It  will 
receive  liberal  patronage  from  the  friends  of  educa- 
tion in  the  North.  General  Fisk  had  his  heart  upon 
the  inauguration  of  the  two  movements  above  noted 
in  behalf  of  the  colored  people  of  Nashville  and  now 
rejoices  in  their  success.  Professor  John  Ogden  of  the 
Western  Freedmen's  Aid  Commission  and  Rev.  E.  M. 
Cravath  of  the  American  Missionary  Association  will 
be  superintendents  of  the  institution. 

A  little  later  the  record  follows :  — 

A  large  concourse  of  teachers  and  pupils,  with  a 
number  of  distinguished  invited  guests,  —  Governor 
Brownlow,  Chancellor  Lindsley  of  the  State  Univer- 
sity and  superintendent  of  the  city  schools,  Senator 
Bossom,  General  Fisk,  and  a  goodly  number  of  other 
civilians  and  officers,  —  were  present  to  witness  the 
opening  of  this  institution.  After  prayer  by  the  Rev. 
R.  E.  Allen  of  the  "  Presbyterian  Church,  Rev.  E.  M. 
Cravath  gave  a  brief  statement  of  the  foundation  and 
objects  of  the  school."  Dr.  Cravath's  statement  was : 
"  The  buildings  were  secured  by  General  Fisk.  The 
object  was  to  establish  a  free  school  for  colored  chil- 
dren, equal  to  the  best  in  the  country.  The  building 
when  properly  furnished  would  accommodate  from 
twelve  hundred  to  fifteen  hundred  pupils.  Children 
would  be  taught  without  charge,  and  the  teachers  would 
be  among  the  best  in  the  country.  They  desired  also 
to  train  good  teachers  in  the  Normal  department.  It 
was  to  be  a  permanent  affair  and  would  be  kept  up 
at  least  eight  months  of  the  year,  if  good  friends  in 

151 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

the  North  kept  their  pledges.  It  was  called  the  Fisk 
School.  The  name  honored  the  school,  and  he  trusted 
that  the  school  would  honor  the  name." 

Superintendent  Cravath  was  followed  by  Gen- 
eral Fisk,  who  said  he  rejoiced  that  he  was  per- 
mitted to  stand  as  godfather  at  the  baptism  of  a 
new  and  free  school.  He  had  been  led  to  take  a 
retrospective  glance  at  his  own  life  to-day.  Well 
did  he  remember  when,  more  than  a  half  cen- 
tury ago,  his  poor  widowed  mother  in  midwinter 
bound  him  out  to  an  old  farmer.  He  remem- 
bered how  the  farmer  sat  in  his  mother's  cabin 
and  how  the  contract  was  written  by  which  he 
was  bound  out;  how  he  was  clothed  and  sent 
to  school;  how  his  bundle  was  tied  up  and  he 
was  put  upon  a  horse  behind  the  farmer  with 
his  mother's  blessing  and  tears.  "  These  chil- 
dren are  much  better  clad  than  I  was  at  that 
time."  He  continued:  "Chancellor  Lindsley 
gave  you  a  good  thought.  This  war  terminates, 
not  in  slavery,  but  in  liberty  for  the  land.  It 
struck  the  shackles  off  from  the  slaves  and  gave 
liberty  to  four  million  of  people.  And  now, 
while  yet  in  the  smoke  and  flame  of  battle,  be- 
fore peace  has  come  and  brooded  over  the  land, 
we  find  these  generous  people  of  the  North  com- 
ing down  with  all  these  advantages  and  giving 
them  to  the  Freedmen  freely." 

152 


POLICY   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

Governor  Brownlow  said:  "  Your  naming  this 
Fisk  School  is  a  just  compliment  to  a  meritorious 
man,  and  I  will  be  pardoned  for  saying  in  the 
presence  of  General  Fisk  that  if  a  man  less  pru- 
dent, less  kind,  less  reasonable,  and  less  just,  both 
towards  white  and  colored  persons,  had  been 
placed  at  the  head  of  the  Bureau  in  this  city,  it 
would  have  proved  a  failure.  I  can  only  say  by 
the  way  of  admonition  and  encouragement  to  the 
colored  friends:  Attend  your  schools,  learn  to 
read  the  word  of  God,  and  then  learn  to  love 
and  practise  it;  and  by  way  of  caution  and  ad- 
vice, I  admonish  you  to  be  mild  and  temperate  in 
your  habits  and  spirit,  and  your  conduct  toward 
the  white  people.  As  a  friend,  loving  the  insti- 
tution and  desiring  the  prosperity  of  what  you 
have  undertaken,  I  advise  the  teachers,  male  and 
female,  to  be  exceedingly  prudent  and  cautious, 
and  do  nothing  offensive  to  the  predominant 
party  here.  You  may  think  it  a  little  strange 
that  I  give  such  counsel.  I  do  it  because  if  Gen- 
eral Thomas  were  to  take  away  his  soldiers  and 
pull  up  stakes  and  leave  here,  you  would  not  be 
allowed  to  occupy  this  schoolroom  a  week,  not 
a  week."  These  teachers  were  thought  to  be 
mistaken  philanthropists  who  worked  their  con- 
sciences overtime. 

After  interesting  remarks  from  Rev.  R.  H. 
i53 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Allen,  Mr.  Walker,  and  Rev.  Mr.  Harris, — these 
last  colored  men,  —  Rev.  E.  M.  Cravath  arose 
and  announced  that  the  school  would  be  open 
for  pupils  at  nine  o'clock  to-morrow,  saying: 
"  It  is  deeply  gratifying  to  see  an  official  recog- 
nition from  Tennessee  in  the  person  of  its  gov- 
ernor and  from  the  superintendent  of  the  city 
schools  of  Nashville.  The  principal,  Professor 
Ogden,  is  a  teacher  of  large  experience  in  Nor- 
mal schools." 

One  more  record  of  a  few  months  later: 
"Nashville,  June  15:  The  great  '  Fisk '  free 
school  for  colored  children  closed  its  first  term 
to-day.  A  large  number  of  citizens  crowded  the 
chapel  to  witness  the  examination.  Nearly  one 
thousand  pupils  are  taught  in  this  school  by  fif- 
teen excellent  teachers.  The  examination  to-day 
was  a  brilliant  success." 

So  the  University  with  its  large  name  was  on 
its  way.  A  university  suggests  institutions  dow- 
ered with  great  resources,  rich  with  the  treasures 
of  scholarship,  with  buildings  the  growth  of 
years,  and  appliances  for  research  in  all  the  sci- 
ences and  the  'ologies,  with  their  graduate  stu- 
dents and  postgraduate  scholars;  and  here  was 
Fisk  University  in  barracks,  with  the  majority 
of  its  classes  in  the  primary  grades.  Very  well, 
Moses  was  Moses  as  truly  in  the  bulrushes  as 

i54 


Erastus  M.  Cravath,  D.D. 


POLICY   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

when,  "  come  to  years,  he  refused  to  be  called  the 
son  of  Pharaoh's  daughter,"  and  "  way  down  in 
Egypt  land  "  stood  face  to  face  with  the  king 
and  said,  "  Let  my  people  go."  Oxford  when  it 
began  more  than  a  thousand  years  ago  was 
not  Oxford  of  to-day.  Yale  University,  which 
lately  celebrated  its  two  hundredth  birthday,  be- 
gan when  half  a  dozen  ministers  of  the  gospel 
brought  together  a  few  books  and  said,  We  will 
give  these  for  the  founding  of  a  college.  The 
name  is  in  the  interests  and  purpose,  in  the  faith 
of  what  is  to  be,  and  in  the  hope  of  final  achieve- 
ment. Let  us  wait  two  hundred  years  and  then 
ask  whether  or  not  this  child  was  rightly  named 
University. 

After  the  school  had  existed  one  year  The 
American  Missionary  Association  published  a 
report  from  its  annual  meeting  voicing  the 
thought  and  purpose  of  education  in  the  new 
institution.     It  read  thus :  — 

The  true  method  is  to  show  the  colored  people  the 
possibilities  of  their  own  race,  and  inspire  in  them, 
by  visible  and  living  examples,  a  noble  ambition.  This, 
sooner  than  anything  else,  will  remove  unworthy  preju- 
dice against  them,  and  raise  them  to  respectability  and 
influence.  It  is  impossible  that  a  whole  people  should 
all  advance  equally.  In  common  as  well  as  in  military- 
life  there  must  be  leaders,  and  the  mass  will  advance 
more  rapidly  because  these  march  ahead.    These  leaders 

155 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

must    be   trained.      For   this,    Christian   colleges   are 
needful. 

In  a  recent  volume  entitled  From  Servitude  to 
Service,  in  which  the  president  of  Fisk  Univer- 
sity ably  set  forth  the  justification  of  this  early 
purpose  of  the  founders  of  this  institution,  we 
have  a  perfect  demonstration  of  the  profound 
wisdom  of  the  educational  work  thus  entered 
upon;  of  the  essential  necessity  of  such  educa- 
tion and  the  fruitfulness  of  it  in  the  progress 
of  a  people  —  a  wonderful  advancement  within 
forty  years. 

As  the  institution  advanced  we  read :  — 

Providentially  there  has  been  developed  in  connec- 
tion with  our  educational  work  in  Fisk  University  a 
remarkable  power  of  song.  There  have  been  added  to 
the  students  those  who  possess  special  musical  ability, 
until  a  choir  of  eleven  has  been  selected,  whose  ren- 
dering of  the  popular  standard  pieces  of  music  has 
attracted  so  much  attention  that  the  teachers  and  trus- 
tees and  friends  of  the  institution  have  felt  they  had 
a  mission  to  accomplish  in  behalf  of  the  struggling 
University  in  which  they  are  being  trained  and  in 
behalf  of  the  education  of  their  race.  Under  the 
management  of  Professor  G.  L.  White,  who  has  been 
their  instructor  in  their  training  and  who  originated 
the  idea  of  relieving  the  pressing  necessities  of  the 
University  by  using  the  talent  of  the  students,  this 
choir  has  commenced  a  series  of  concerts  in  the  North. 

156 


General  Clinton  B.  Fisk 


POLICY   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

This  was  the  beginning  of  the  musical  depart- 
ment which  has  won  fame  for  this  institution, 
and  the  beginning  and  completion  of  Jubilee  Hall. 
The  writer  of  this  remembers  well  when  this  first 
troupe  made  its  debut  at  the  National  Council 
in  Oberlin  in  1871.  When  a  resolution  was  of- 
fered thanking  it  for  "  the  sweet  songs  of  Zion," 
some  minister  arose  to  say  they  were  sweet 
songs,  but  it  was  not  correct  to  call  them  "  songs 
of  Zion."  The  answer  was,  "  That  depends  upon 
what  you  mean  by  Zion." 

Let  us  remember  here  these  "  Founders."  My 
own  acquaintance  with  General  Fisk  began  in  the 
winter  of  1885,  when  I  came  from  my  parish  in 
France  to  be  secretary  of  The  American  Mission- 
ary Association.  General  Fisk  sat  in  the  execu- 
tive committee  of  the  Board,  a  goodly  figure  to 
look  upon,  with  a  commanding  presence,  thought- 
ful and  large-minded,  prompt  and  regular  in  at- 
tendance, like  a  soldier.  I  soon  discerned  that  he 
was  one  of  the  most  lovable  of  men.  Distin- 
guished in  the  councils  of  the  Methodist  Church 
and  loyal  to  it  as  became  him,  he  was  yet  broad 
enough  to  identify  himself  thoroughly  with  a 
society  whose  officers  were  members  of  another 
church  family.  All  the  years  until  his  death  we 
had  the  wealth  of  his  wisdom,  his  large  experi- 
ence, his  exceptional  ability,  and  his  most  sincere 

i57 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

and  earnest  Christian  devotion.  He  was  a  con- 
spicuous example  of  a  nobly  inspired  and  divinely 
consecrated  life,  constantly  held  sacred  to  the 
good  of  others.  When  one  is  shining  like  a  radi- 
ant star  in  witnessing  to  what  is  right  and  noble 
in  Christian  citizenship,  in  a  world  where  selfish- 
ness is  so  common  and  so  mighty  in  its  dominion, 
where  materialism  has  its  own  gospel,  it  is  well 
for  us  to  recall  the  reality  and  power  of  convic- 
tions to  truths  which  were  unpopular,  and  firm 
adherence  to  principles,  when  such  adherence  did 
not  meet  with  prevailing  approval.  The  memory 
of  such  a  man  is  a  perpetual  and  triumphant 
testimony  to  the  power  and  glory  of  the  religion 
of  Jesus  Christ,  an  inheritance  for  our  contem- 
plation and  imitation  in  the  duties  and  fidelities 
of  life.  Such  a  one  was  the  man  whose  honored 
name  Fisk  University  bears.  May  it  never  cease 
to  cherish  the  memory  of  one  whose  whole  life 
was  expressed  in  the  old  Latin  phrase,  "  I  am 
a  man,  and  whatever  interests  man,  interests 
me  " !  His  subsequent  benefactions  to  the  school 
amounted  to  nearly  thirty  thousand  dollars. 

President  Cravath  was  chiefly  known  to  Fisk 
University  by  his  administration  there.  He  en- 
tered upon  it  in  1875,  when  the  school,  scarcely 
nine  years  old,  was  yet  unformed,  and  was  presi- 
dent of  it  for  a  quarter  of  a  century.     He  put 

158 


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■ 

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K»jL  J\.              / 

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if     til    1     \ 

*  fir  fa1 «' 

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•      ?J 

POLICY   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

his  own  stamp  upon  it.  Of  large  vision,  of  great 
faith,  of  prophetic  purpose,  with  positive  convic- 
tions and  strong  will,  he  had  the  qualities  of 
greatness.  While  he  did  not  shrink  from  being 
identified  with  an  unpopular  cause,  he  held  his 
convictions  with  such  love  for  mankind  and  such 
charity  for  those  who  did  not  share  his  opinions, 
that  he  won  their  personal  regard  and  disarmed 
many  prejudices  against  the  institution.  His  in- 
tellectual power  was  crowned  with  Christian 
sincerity  and  devotion,  and  his  influence  upon 
thousands  of  students  will  go  on  in  their  lives 
for  many  generations.  All  this  is  true  and  more, 
and  yet  the  early  records  of  The  American  Mis- 
sionary Association  indicate  that  perhaps  Dr. 
Cravath's  most  significant  work  was  not  as  presi- 
dent of  Fisk  after  all.  For  ten  years  previous, 
as  superintendent  and  field  secretary  of  the  As- 
sociation, he  traversed  the  Southland,  planning 
with  wondrous  wisdom  for  the  system  of  schools 
which  in  all  the  years  to  come  should  give  light 
and  save  life.  He  selected  sites,  purchased  prop- 
erties, organized  schools  of  every  grade,  and 
found  the  principals  who  should  manage,  govern, 
and  direct  them,  and  those  who  should  teach. 
AYhen  xAtlanta  University  in  Georgia,  Storrs 
School  in  the  same  city,  Talladega  College  in 
Alabama,  Straight  University  in  New  Orleans, 

i59 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

Tougaloo  University  in  Mississippi,  Le  Moyne 
Normal  School  at  Memphis,  Avery  Institute  in 
Charleston,  Gregory  Normal  in  Wilmington,  Bal- 
lard Normal  in  Macon,  and  very  many  more  were 
in  their  first  stages  of  evolution,  he  was  there. 
The  first  building  of  Atlanta  University  came 
from  The  American  Missionary  Association,  and 
Dr.  Cravath  was  the  man  who  supervised  its  erec- 
tion. If  he  did  not  create  the  institutions,  he 
rocked  their  cradles  and  led  them  up  from  their 
beginnings.  This  service  in  his  career  was  a  large 
part  of  a  great  life,  and  as  one  generation  passes 
and  another  comes,  so  Dr.  Cravath  lives  in  thou- 
sands made  better  by  his  influence  and  in  the 
presence  of  the  good  diffused  among  multitudes 
who  do  not  know  their  indebtedness. 

Others  have  brought  repute  to  Fisk  Univer- 
sity among  the  educational  institutions  of  our 
country.  There  was  Professor  A.  K.  Spence,  the 
scholar,  for  a  time  head  of  the  school,  who  left 
an  attractive  chair  of  Greek  in  Michigan  Uni- 
versity to  give  his  large  and  loving  life  there, 
yet  well  content  so  he  could  be  nearer  God's 
heart  and  feel  the  solemn  pulses  sending  blood 
through  all  the  widespread  veins  of  endless  good, 
a  pure-minded,  public-spirited,  noble  man,  strong 
in  goodness.  There  were  Professor  H.  S.  Bennett 
with  his  true  mind  and  heart,  helpful  and  earnest 

1 60 


POLICY  AND   DEVELOPMENT 

and  faithful,  and  Professor  F.  A.  Chase,  conscien- 
tious, exact,  genuine,  the  soul  of  sincerity  and 
unselfish  consecration.  I  may  not  mention  those 
who  happily  remain,  who  have  had  their  full 
share  in  making  Fisk  University  what  it  is. 

There  is  a  story  in  mythology  which  tells  us 
that  Jupiter  once  offered  the  prize  of  immortality 
to  him  who  was  most  useful  to  mankind.  The 
court  of  Olympus  was  thronged  with  competi- 
tors for  the  reward  —  the  soldier  who  had  fought 
for  his  country;  the  philanthropist  whose  deeds 
of  love  for  his  fellows  had  caused  his  name  to 
be  universally  honored;  the  artist,  painter,  and 
sculptor  whose  creations  had  given  form  to  noble 
ideals  and  made  the  earth  less  gross  and  dull ;  the 
poet  by  whose  genius  the  people  had  their  songs ; 
the  musicians  who  had  incarnated  the  harmonies 
and  melodies  to  cheer  and  uplift  burdened  lives 
were  brought  forward.  A  venerable  man  among 
the  observers  looked  on  with  intense  interest 
in  the  scene  to  see  which  one  would  be  awarded 
the  coveted  prize.  Jupiter  seeing  him,  asked 
who  he  was.  "  I  am  only  a  looker-on,"  said  the 
sage ;  "  these  competitors  were  my  pupils." 
"Then,"  said  Jupiter,  "this  is  my  judgment: 
crown  the  faithful  teacher  with  the  prize  awarded 
to  the  most  useful  of  mankind ! " 

Certainly  those  who  are  thus  educating  a  people 
"  161 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

"  to  attain  their  highest  possibilities  "  are  among 
the  most  useful  of  mankind.  The  process  of  this 
work,  inconspicuous  though  it  may  be,  in  which 
graduates  have  become  known  and  esteemed,  and 
it  may  be  eminent,  through  the  teaching  and 
fidelity  of  their  instructors,  has  become  not 
merely  Christian  salvation  for  multitudes,  but 
has  been  a  mighty  social  and  civic  blessing  to 
many  communities.  This  service  cannot  be  told 
here,  but  it  is  written  in  God's  "  Book  of  Remem- 
brance," and  whether  duly  recognized  or  not 
while  the  work  is  quietly  going  on,  in  the  day 
when  the  love  of  God  shall  be  justified  to  men 
it  will  receive  its  reward. 

The  story  of  Fisk  University  in  its  beginnings 
has  been  dwelt  upon  here  because  it  is  a  type 
original  and  permanent.  There  is  nothing  so 
indelible  as  an  original  stamp.  The  die  which 
gives  the  impression  to  coin  does  not  merely 
make  its  mark  upon  the  surface.  Every  particle 
under  the  die  feels  the  impact,  and  when  in  the 
years  by  constant  abrasion  the  stamp  no  longer 
appears  on  the  surface,  it  nevertheless,  put  to 
scientific  test,  shows  that  the  die  went  through 
the  coin.  So  in  twoscore  years,  though  many 
changes  appear  on  the  surface,  the  character 
works  and  will  work  toward  the  name.  The  men 
who  planted  it   were  not  mistaken  when   they 

162 


POLICY   AND   DEVELOPMENT 

said,  "  There  should  be  an  education  which 
should  demonstrate  the  possibilities  of  the  race." 
In  the  adjustment  to  existing  conditions,  the 
question  of  industrial  training  has  not  been  for- 
gotten. For  a  people  beginning  their  history 
with  the  rights  and  privileges  of  freedom  this 
also  was  absolutely  essential.  The  Association's 
theory  was  to  make  industrial  training  a  con- 
tributing force  to  Christian  education.  It  did 
not  accord  with  the  modern  Southern  theory  of 
negro  education  that  it  should  be  distinct  from 
other  education  and  compose  about  all  the  needs 
of  these  poor  people  destined  to  be  a  permanent 
peasant  class,  and  no  more.  At  the  same  time, 
it  was  plain  enough  that  the  vast  majority  of 
this  people  —  as  indeed  all  peoples  —  must  live 
by  bodily  labor.  They  must  earn  their  bread. 
They  must  therefore  be  taught  and  trained  to 
do  this  in  such  a  way  as  will  contribute  to  the 
honorable  life  to  which  every  negro  boy  should 
aspire.  Upon  the  superstructure  of  mental  en- 
lightenment they  must  build  themselves  up  by 
intelligent  industries.  Hence,  with  the  planting 
of  permanent  schools  leading  up  to  higher  edu- 
cation, plans  were  at  once  made  for  such  indus- 
trial training  as  seemed  to  be  practical  in  nearly 
all  schools  for  girls,  and,  whenever  possible,  for 
boys.     As  soon  as  funds  could  be  secured  shops 

163 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

were  erected  for  work  in  wood,  iron,  and  various 
other  handicrafts.  Labor  was  honorable  and  to 
be  honored.  Thus  the  creed  with  which  the  As- 
sociation began  took  in  the  school  of  the  mind, 
the  conscience,  and  the  heart;  the  school  for 
handicrafts  and  for  the  culture  of  the  soil.  Farms 
were  connected  with  several  of  the  higher  in- 
stitutions that  students  might  be  instructed  in 
agriculture. 


164 


IX 

SIGNIFICANT   YEARS 


The  school  in  Charleston,  South  Carolina.  —  Relief  So- 
cieties. —  Freedman's  Bureau.  —  General  O.  O.  Howard. 

—  A  new  feature  in  administration.  —  New  churches.  — 
Organization  of  Talladega  Normal  School. — Development 
to  Talladega  College.  —  Department  of  theological  study. 

—  Emerson  Institute  in  1868.  —  Reconstruction  and  the 
Fourteenth  Amendment.  —  Straight  University.  —  Begin- 
ning of  Tougaloo  University  in  Mississippi.  —  Character- 
istics and  features.  —  The  Fifteenth  Amendment.  —  Proc- 
lamation of  President  U.  S.  Grant.  —  Comments  of  Carl 
Schurz.  —  Georgia  governor's  examination  of  Atlanta 
University.  —  Testimony  of  examiners.  —  Seven  new 
chartered  institutions.  —  Twenty  "  normal  "  schools.  — 
Sixty-nine  "  common  "  schools  within  seven  years  after 
slavery. 


IX 

SIGNIFICANT   YEARS 

THOUGH  peace  had  been  declared,  the 
records  of  the  Association  show  that 
our  work  was  not  permitted  to  go  for- 
ward in  peace.  In  some  sections  great  violence 
was  manifested  towards  the  freedmen;  their 
newly  founded  churches  and  schoolhouses,  and 
frequently  their  habitations,  such  as  they  were, 
were  destroyed.  Personal  violence  towards  the 
negro  —  most  innocent  cause  of  the  war  —  did 
not  hesitate  at  life  itself.  "  The  schools  "  were 
"  execrated  "  by  the  majority  of  the  whites  — 
the  teachers  ostracised,  and  "  some  suffered  per- 
sonal violence." 

It  will  not  have  escaped  the  attention  of  the 
reader  that  in  the  report  from  Avery  Institute 
in  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  within  a  year 
after  Lee's  surrender,  ten  of  the  twenty  teachers 
were  natives  of  Charleston  and  identified  racially 
with  the  negro  people.  These  were  from  the  fami- 
lies of  free  negroes  who  had  been  previously 
educated  in  Charleston.  These  free  negroes,  who 
numbered  two  hundred  and  sixty-two  thousand 

167 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

persons  in  the  South  in  i860,  with  property  es- 
timated at  twenty-five  million  of  dollars,  —  while 
they  were  subject  to  much  unfriendly  legislation, 
and  were  denied  admission  to  public  schools,  — 
were  not  legally  excluded  from  such  education 
as  they  could  secure  among  themselves.  Hence, 
from  the  youth  among  the  free  negroes  many 
teachers  for  the  elementary  grades  in  the  rapidly 
extemporized  schools  of  the  Association  were 
found  in  several  cities  where  its  schools  were 
located. 

What  was  especially  remarked  also  when  our 
schools  began  was  the  proportion  of  pupils  who 
were  far  more  Anglo-Saxon  in  their  parentage 
than  they  were  African.  Indeed,  a  Southern  au- 
thority in  a  careful  work  entitled  The  Resources 
and  Population  of  South  Carolina,  published  in 
1883  with  the  state  imprint,  writing  of  the  negro 
people,  uses  the  following  words :  "  One-third  has 
a  large  infusion  of  white  blood.  Another  third 
has  less,  but  still  some;  and  of  the  other  third 
it  would  be  difficult  to  find  an  assured  specimen 
of  pure  African  blood.  If  the  lineage  of  these 
negroes  whose  color  and  features  seem  most  un- 
mistakably to  mark  them  as  of  purely  African 
descent  be  traced,  indisputable  evidence  may  often 
be  obtained  of  white  parentage  more  or  less 
remote." 

168 


SIGNIFICANT  YEARS 

The  teachers  who  went  down  from  the  North 
were  soon  disillusioned  if  they  were  at  all  influ- 
enced by  any  other  than  the  most  serious  mis- 
sionary spirit.  Ostracism  is  a  mild  term  for 
the  disesteem  with  which  they  were  regarded  as 
"  nigger  teachers/'  Moreover,  colored  people 
themselves  were  not  remarkable  as  being  exempt 
from  the  ordinary  characteristics  of  human 
beings.  There  were  all  sorts,  —  the  pious  and 
the  profane,  the  virtuous  and  the  vicious,  the 
trusting  and  the  jealous,  the  faithful  and  the 
treacherous,  the  industrious  and  the  lazy,  the 
prudent  and  the  careless,  the  bright  and  the 
stupid,  the  sprightly  and  the  sullen.  Out  of 
such  families  the  children  came.  The  teachers 
needed  the  thirteenth  chapter  of  First  Corin- 
thians —  and  needed  it  every  day  —  with  the 
emphasis  on  the  climacteric  and  supreme  grace 
of  all,  in  order  to  get  on;  and  many  of  them 
had  the  chapter  by  heart. 

The  Association  had  now  reached  a  stage  of 
steady  progress  and  the  year  1867  presents  but 
few  incidents.  The  work  in  Africa,  the  missions 
among  the  North  American  Indians,  in  the  Sand- 
wich Islands,  and  in  Siam  were  duly  reported, 
and  the  customary  comments  and  resolutions 
made;  but  the  attention  and  interest  was  upon 
the  rapidly  developing  work  among  the  freed- 

169 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

men.  In  1861,  when  the  ignorant,  half-clad, 
half-famished  negroes  numbering  thousands  in 
all  had  fled  to  the  protection  of  our  armies, 
various  "  Relief  Societies  "  were  formed  in  the 
North  devoted  largely  to  physical  help.  These 
societies  multiplied  rapidly  and  were  soon  so 
numerous  that  their  labors  became  conflicting. 
In  May,  1866,  they  were  finally  concentrated  and 
united  into  the  "  American  Freedmen's  Union 
Commission."  After  this  event,  the  American 
Missionary  Association  and  this  Freedmen's 
Commission  were  recognized  by  "  The  Freed- 
man's  Bureau  "  and  the  country  as  the  two  cen- 
tral institutions  in  the  freedmen's  work.  This 
"  Union  Commission,"  however,  had  scarcely 
been  organized  before  it  began  to  disintegrate. 
The  Cincinnati  Branch,  the  oldest  of  the  West- 
ern societies,  withdrew  and  united  with  the 
American  Missionary  Association  in  1866,  and 
the  "  Cleveland  Branch  "  followed  in  1867.  The 
Chicago  office  closed  in  1868,  which  left  the  As- 
sociation as  the  sole  national  organization.  The 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  and  Maryland  branches, 
however,  still  continued  in  active  operation. 

The  "  Freedman's  Bureau,"  created  by  an  act 
of  Congress  in  1865,  is  constantly  acknowledged 
in  the  papers  of  the  Association  at  this  period 
with  the  highest  praises  for  the  Chief  Commis- 

170 


SIGNIFICANT   YEARS 

sioner,  Major  General  O.  O.  Howard.  Under 
his  wise  and  impartial  administration  the  Bureau 
was  a  constant  defense  to  the  Association  in  times 
of  danger,  and  a  most  efficient  helper  in  making 
provision  for  the  constantly  growing  needs  of 
its  work  by  the  wise  disposal  of  funds  to  the 
Association  for  the  erection  of  school  buildings. 
Rev.  Dr.  Wm.  W.  Patton  and  Rev.  Dr.  John 
C.  Holbrook  were  in  Great  Britain  in  behalf  of 
the  Association,  which  had  now  entered  upon 
an  experiment  in  office  administration  quite  at 
variance  with  its  former  and  with  its  present 
method.  It  was  decided  to  divide  the  Associa- 
tion into  three  departments,  —  the  Eastern,  the 
Middle  West,  and  the  Western;  the  Eastern,  as 
the  central  office,  being  located  at  New  York; 
the  others  at  Cincinnati  and  at  Chicago.  The 
Middle  West  Department,  with  its  own  secretary, 
treasurer,  and  Advisory  Board,  administered 
upon  the  missionary  operations,  schools,  and 
churches  in  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Alabama,  and 
a  part  of  Georgia.  The  Western  Department, 
with  its  secretary  and  treasurer,  administered 
upon  the  work  in  Kansas,  Illinois,  Missouri, 
Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Mississippi,  and  Texas. 
The  Eastern  Department  contained  by  far  the 
larger  number  of  schools  and  teachers  and  had 
for  its  administrative  territory  the  District  of 

171 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

Columbia,  Maryland,  Delaware,  Virginia,  North 
and  South  Carolina,  a  part  of  Alabama,  and  a 
part  of  Georgia.  It  was  thought  that  thus  the 
increasingly  exigent  work  would  be  prosecuted 
with  greater  vigor  and  would  doubtless  appeal 
with  more  urgency  to  the  different  parts  of  the 
country  for  financial  support.  The  foreign  fields 
remained  as  heretofore  under  the  direction  of 
the  office  at  New  York.  This  arrangement  was 
entered  upon  in  the  hope  of  financial  consolida- 
tion of  other  agencies,  which  after  a  few  years 
was  brought  about  when  the  organization  was 
perfected  by  centralizing  the  entire  administra- 
tion at  New  York.  This  period  witnessed  the 
formation  of  churches  in  Charleston,  South 
Carolina;  Atlanta,  Macon,  and  Andersonville, 
in  Georgia;  Chattanooga,  Nashville,  and  Mem- 
phis in  Tennessee;  Talladega  and  Selma  in  Ala- 
bama, and  Camp  Nelson  and  Berea  in  Kentucky. 
All  of  these  were  ministered  unto  by  white  pas- 
tors from  the  North.  The  new  school  buildings 
at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  and  Savannah, 
Georgia,  were  dedicated,  and  schools  were  opened 
at  Selma,  Marion,  and  Athens  in  Alabama. 

At  Talladega,  Alabama,  in  November,  1867,  a 
school  was  organized  with  three  teachers  and 
one  hundred  and  forty  pupils.  For  two  years 
previous  the  "  Cleveland  Freedman's  Aid  Com- 

172 


General  O.  o.  How  \rd 


SIGNIFICANT  YEARS 

mission  "  had  maintained  an  excellent  school  at 
this  point,  so  that  most  of  the  pupils  to  enter 
the  new  school  had  already  received  primary  in- 
struction. Aided  by  the  government,  the  Asso- 
ciation had  purchased  "  a  fine  college  property 
consisting  of  thirty-four  acres,  and  a  handsome 
brick  building  which  had  been  erected  before  the 
war  at  a  cost  of  thirty-four  thousand  dollars." 

When  the  General  Field  Agent  six  months 
subsequently  visited  the  school,  he  reported,  "  We 
began  last  year  and  now  have  at  Talladega  one 
of  our  best  Normal  schools  in  fine  working 
order."  Nine  counties  adjacent,  thickly  popu- 
lated, had  no  school  of  any  sort.  The  principal 
was  importuned  for  teachers.  He  met  some  of 
the  colored  people  in  their  log  churches  and  told 
them  there  was  but  one  way  in  which  they  could 
secure  a  teacher.  "  Pick  out  the  best  specimen 
of  a  young  man  you  have  for  a  teacher,  and 
bring  to  church  with  you  next  Sunday  all  the 
corn  and  bacon  you  can  spare  for  his  living.  I 
will  take  him  into  my  school  and  make  a  teacher 
of  him." 

Following  his  advice,  some  brought  their  corn, 
from  a  handful  to  four  quarts,  —  more  often  a 
handful,  —  in  the  pocket,  or  tied  in  a  handker- 
chief, and  laid  it  on  the  altar  in  front  of  the 
pulpit,  singing  as  they  marched  around  the  aisle. 

173 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Eight  or  nine  young  men  were  selected  from 
the  different  localities  and  furnished  with  rations. 
These  came  to  Talladega  ten,  twenty,  and  thirty 
miles  on  foot  with  sacks  of  corn  and  bacon  on 
their  backs.  There  were  positively  no  accommo- 
dations in  Talladega  for  them,  and  they  were 
obliged  to  sleep  on  the  floors  of  such  cabins  as 
could  receive  them  and  give  them  a  chance  to  bake 
their  corn  bread  by  the  fire.  This  they  did.  For 
their  studies,  they  began  with  the  alphabet,  and 
after  six  months,  by  giving  their  whole  time  to  one 
thing,  were  able  to  read  in  the  Second  and  Third 
Readers,  and  had  been  taught  "  by  practice  upon 
other  pupils  "  in  the  school  "  how  to  teach  read- 
ing." In  the  summer  these  pupils  went  home  to 
teach  "  bush  "  schools  until  the  fall  term  opened, 
when  they  were  back  on  time  at  Talladega  and  in 
force.  The  principal  had  applications  from  fifty 
more  young  men  and  women  who  wished  to  come 
in  the  same  way  and  on  the  same  terms,  bringing 
their  rations,  mostly  corn-meal,  asking  only  for 
a  place  to  bake  it  and  a  shelter  for  their  heads. 

When  the  General  Field  Agent  pronounced  this 
"  one  of  our  best  Normal  schools,"  he  must  have 
had  the  prophetic  vision  to  see  what  the  years,  not 
the  months,  would  develop.  Normal  schools,  two 
years  after  Appomattox,  with  ex-slave  boys  and 
girls  for  pupils,  could  only  have  existed  in  name, 

i74 


SIGNIFICANT  YEARS 

as  a  babe  is  given  the  name  which  he  is  to  wear 
when  it  stands  for  somewhat  other  than  a  babe. 
In  the  faith  of  what  was  to  be,  many  institutions, 
which  have  since  justified  their  right  to  be  so  called, 
were  named  "  Normal  schools,"  and  the  young 
teachers  who  went  forth  able  to  read  fairly  well 
in  the  "  Second  Reader  "  doubtless  in  time  were 
able  to  prove  both  their  faith  and  fidelity  in  their 
larger  attainments.  The  school  developed  step  by 
step  with  the  development  of  the  people.  The 
teachers  who  began  the  work  here  proved  to  be 
teachers  of  great  faith,  willing  to  identify  them- 
selves with  a  service  which,  not  understood,  was 
distrusted  by  the  intelligent  white  people,  who  as 
yet  could  not  have  been  expected  to  welcome  these 
unknown  mission  teachers  from  the  North  with 
confidence,  nor  to  look  upon  their  work  with  cor- 
diality. However,  one  of  the  most  vitalizing 
forces  of  this  early  work  was  the  religious  zeal 
and  consecration  which  surrounded  it  with  an 
atmosphere  so  surcharged  with  power  and  love 
that  the  teachers  thought  of  little  else  than  their 
mission.  They  lived  with  their  students,  worked 
for  salaries  which  barely  sustained  them,  assumed 
burdens  in  and  out  of  school  hours  that  only  de- 
votion to  their  Lord  and  the  salvation  of  his 
needy  ones  could  inspire.  The  supreme  and 
ultimate  purpose   which   called   forth   this   self- 

175 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

sacrificing  missionary  spirit  was  the  same  as  that 
of  the  churches  from  which  these  people  of  great 
faith  came. 

This  faith,  great  and  prophetic  as  it  was,  could 
not  have  forecast  the  Talladega  College  of  to-day. 
It  was  then  housed  in  one  building,  erected  by 
slaves  as  a  school  for  the  sons  of  their  masters, 
and  which  in  war  times  had  been  converted  into 
a  prison  for  the  Federal  soldiers.  The  Associa- 
tion had  purchased  this  school  building  for  the 
race  whose  labor  had  reared  it,  and  whose  free- 
dom was  due  to  the  army  which  furnished  the 
prisoners.  The  story  of  this  stately  building  has 
other  points  of  interest.  Its  slave  carpenter,  who 
sawed  the  first  plank  and  chipped  the  first  shav- 
ing for  the  edifice,  sorrowing  most  of  all  because 
his  children  would  never  have  a  chance  for  edu- 
cation like  the  children  of  his  masters,  has 
lived  to  see  three  of  them  take  diplomas  in  the 
young  college,  and  pursue  advanced  studies  in 
a  recitation  room  containing  a  window-pane  on 
which  in  1862  a  Yankee  soldier  had  cut  the 
words,  "  Prisoners  of  war."  These  children  of 
the  former  "  slave  carpenter "  were  for  years 
teachers  in  the  institution,  and  one  surren- 
dered her  teachership  only  to  become  the  wife 
of  a  minister  who  was  trained  in  the  same 
school. 

176 


SIGNIFICANT  YEARS 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  that  day  to  the  present 
Talladega  College,  with  its  twenty  buildings  clus- 
tered about  the  original  campus,  its  thirty  pro- 
fessors and  instructors,  and  its  annual  average 
attendance  of  five  hundred  and  fifty  pupils  in  its 
several  departments,  —  preparatory,  normal,  col- 
legiate, college,  theological,  —  with  its  indus- 
trial departments  in  woodworking,  in  iron  and 
printing,  and  its  agricultural,  with  its  farm  of 
eight  hundred  acres,  its  machinery,  tools,  and 
stock. 

Now  when  twoscore  years  have  passed,  the 
visitor  at  Talladega  College  will  not  find  the  same 
local  conditions  which  existed  at  the  beginning. 
The  citizens  who  could  only  have  been  expected 
to  meet  the  school  at  the  outset  with  distrust  and 
perhaps  with  fears  for  the  outcome,  and  who 
could  not  have  been  other  than  painfully  at  vari- 
ance with  Northern  people  and  their  ideas,  are 
counted  as  their  steadfast  and  greatly  appreciated 
friends.  They  do  not  hesitate  in  their  cordial 
opinions  and  commendations  of  what  they  see 
every  day.  Their  cordiality  is  founded  upon  the 
careful  observation  of  years.  They  are  repre- 
sented on  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

In  1868  a  church  was  organized,  and  teaching 
for  preachers  was  advertised.  This  brought  to- 
gether eighteen   students   for  the  ministry  but 

i77 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

three  years  out  of  slavery.  Now,  ten  churches 
may  be  counted  as  the  direct  outgrowth  of  this 
first  Congregational  Church.  In  1873  a  distinct 
department  of  Biblical  study  was  opened.  Nearly 
two  hundred  ministers  have  received  their  train- 
ing in  this  theological  department,  and  many  have 
served  in  different  denominations  in  important 
churches.  To  Professor  George  W.  Andrews,  d.d., 
in  thirty-two  years'  continuous  service  must  be 
accredited  most  of  the  instruction  and  training 
of  these.    He  began  his  work  in  1875. 

In  1879  the  institution,  with  a  look  forward  to 
the  beginning  of  a  four  years'  college  course, 
elected  the  Rev.  Henry  Swift  DeForest,  a  gradu- 
ate of  Yale  in  the  class  of  1857,  subsequently  an 
instructor  at  that  university,  and  who  had  been 
drafted  into  the  army  in  the  war  between  the 
North  and  the  South.  In  his  service  as  chaplain 
he  made  his  first  acquaintance  with  the  South. 
His  entrance  upon  his  work  at  Talladega  sixteen 
years  later  was  his  second  visit.  If  his  welcome, 
either  the  first  time  or  the  second,  failed  to  be  im- 
pressive to  him,  he  yet  lived  long  enough  to  win 
the  full  confidence  and  hearty  regard  of  the  people 
among  whom  he  wrought  out  his  Christian  work, 
and  in  a  way  that  has  made  his  memory  in  the 
town  as  well  as  in  the  college  both  precious  and 
permanent.    During  his  administration  the  regu- 

178 


SIGNIFICANT   YEARS 

lar  college  course  was  entered  upon,  though  pre- 
vious to  this  time  certain  college  studies  had  been 
blended  with  the  theological  course. 

This  institution,  of  highest  grade  for  the  col- 
ored people  in  the  state,  with  a  constituency  of 
six  hundred  thousand  to  draw  from,  certainly 
has  had  a  most  interesting  history.  It  carries 
the  banner  as  being  the  first  boarding-school  for 
the  freedmen  in  Alabama  and  the  first  in  the 
United  States  to  introduce  among  them  indus- 
trial training,  which  has  always  had  its  place 
at  Talladega.  Instruction  has  been  given  in 
agriculture,  gardening,  woodworking  (such  as 
cabinet-making  and  carpentry  with  architectural 
drawing),  ironworking,  bricklaying,  brickmak- 
ing,  printing,  and  cobbling.  The  girls  have  been 
taught  nursing,  domestic  science,  such  as  house- 
keeping, millinery,  and  making  of  garments  and 
laundering.     These  studies  are  obligatory. 

The  present  value  of  the  property  at  Talladega  is 
about  $250,000.  Additionally  above  $160,000  have 
been  invested  in  endowments  and  scholarships. 

The  year  1868  introduces  us  to  Emerson  Insti- 
tute in  Mobile,  Alabama,  bearing  the  honored 
name  of  Ralph  Emerson  of  Rockford,  Illinois, 
who  made  a  generous  contribution  towards  the 
necessary  purchase  money.  The  principal  re- 
ports it  as  a  "  college  "  from  the  time  of  its  be- 

179 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

ginning.  "  We  hope  to  make  the  institution  one 
of  the  greatest  instrumentalities  for  good  in  the 
land."  This  optimism  was  not  unnatural.  The 
Avery  Institute  at  Charleston  in  1869,  but  three 
years  of  age,  sends  a  report  of  progress  that  reads 
like  fiction,  and  yet  it  is  the  careful  statement  of 
Professor  Warren,  a  conscientious  and  disci- 
plined educator.  He  writes,  "  I  assumed  charge 
of  this  school  in  January,  1869.  I  have  taught 
a  class  of  fifteen  in  Algebra  who  have  made  excel- 
lent progress.  They  understand  Algebra  as  well 
as  any  class  of  whites  I  ever  saw;  are  as  quick  in 
solving,  as  apt  in  explaining.  I  am  daily  learn- 
ing to  see  more  differences  between  individuals 
and  less  between  races." 

As  the  year  closed,  it  was  found  that  for  every 
teacher  commissioned  by  the  Association  there 
had  gone  out  from  the  freedmen  themselves  two 
teachers  who  had  been  trained  in  our  schools; 
in  all,  numbering  three  hundred  and  fourteen 
negro  recruits  as  teachers  for  the  negro  schools 
in  the  South  within  four  years. 

Reconstruction  was  yet  in  preliminary  stages, 
but  order  was  gradually  emerging  out  of  chaos. 
The  Fourteenth  Amendment  had  made  freedom 
secure  for  those  who  had  been  slaves,  and  the 
Fifteenth  had  been  passed,  confirming  the  freed- 
men in  their  liberty  and  in  their  civil  and  political 

180 


SIGNIFICANT  YEARS 

rights.  But  what  should  be  done  to  prepare  these 
poor  and  illiterate  persons,  living  among  those 
hostile  to  their  citizenship,  for  their  new  and 
weighty  responsibilities  ? 

The  Association  sought  to  answer  this  ques- 
tion so  far  as  it  could  for  the  state  of  Louisiana 
in  founding  an  institution  which  it  was  hoped 
would  grow  into  a  full-fledged  college.  Antici- 
pating this  future,  the  school,  like  others,  at  once 
took  on  the  exalted  title  of  "  University."  The 
thought  of  those  who  were  responsible  for  the 
large  name  probably  was  that  this  would  not 
merely  magnify  the  character  of  the  school  for 
the  present,  but  would  also  help  the  institution 
to  work  more  rapidly  and  consistently  towards 
its  name.  It  was  no  doubt  a  mistaken  judgment, 
but  in  part  it  has  accomplished  the  original  pur- 
pose in  holding  unwaveringly  to  the  theory  and 
policy  of  affording  the  largest  possible  develop- 
ment for  the  exceptional  students  who  have 
sought  its  instruction.  This  definite  and  deter- 
mined purpose  to  further  a  broad  and  generous 
education  for  those  who  should  prove  capable 
and  worthy,  has  alone  saved  the  name  of  "  Uni- 
versity "  from  ridicule. 

Early  in  the  year  1869  the  school  was  chartered 
as  Straight  University,  taking  its  distinctive 
name  from  a  generous  patron,  Hon.   Seymour 

181 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Straight,  of  Ohio.  Like  all  schools  for  the  freed- 
men,  it  opened  with  the  primary  grades.  But 
the  A.  M.  A.  officers  rightly  believed  that  such 
was  the  native  ability  of  its  colored  people,  and 
such  their  eagerness  to  learn  that  higher  courses 
of  study  would  soon  be  in  demand,  and  results 
have  partially  vindicated  their  faith  and  fore- 
sight. In  seven  years  from  the  founding  a  class 
of  eight  was  graduated  in  law;  in  six,  the  first 
normal  class  came  out,  and  in  ten  the  first  college 
class. 

The  establishment  of  the  public  school  system 
in  the  South  soon  after  the  beginning  of  recon- 
struction created  a  demand  for  teachers,  and  to 
this  end  special  attention  was  directed  to  the  devel- 
opment of  the  normal  department  with  a  very 
thorough  course  of  studies.  In  due  time  college 
studies  were  introduced  and  certain  students  have 
availed  themselves  of  its  provisions  to  secure  its 
advantages  for  themselves.  Meanwhile  the  insti- 
tution wears  its  name  as  an  ideal  of  what  it  hopes 
some  day  to  realize. 

A  theological  class  was  started  in  1870,  which 
in  time  developed  into  a  distinct  department. 
Over  forty  now  in  the  active  ministry  and  hon- 
oring their  college  in  their  work,  owe  much  of 
their  impulse  and  interest  as  well  as  the  intelli- 
gence to  sustain  them  in  their  gracious  service  to 

182 


SIGNIFICANT   YEARS 

the  instruction  and  influence  of  this  department. 
Their  churches  have  become  centers  of  life  and 
light  for  large  regions  of  the  state. 

For  about  ten  years  a  flourishing  law  school 
was  maintained,  but  this  has  now  become  an  inde- 
pendent school.  The  church  in  connection  with 
the  school  radiates  its  influence  in  all  the  depart- 
ments, and  impresses  a  distinctly  Christian  stamp 
upon  all  exercises. 

What  Straight  University  has  done  or  is  doing 
for  Louisiana  and  adjoining  states  cannot  be 
expressed  in  figures,  nor  be  estimated  by  the 
large  number  of  graduates  from  the  different  de- 
partments. Probably  for  the  last  fifteen  years  or 
more  the  attendance  has  ranged  between  five  and 
six  hundred  each  year,  so  that  a  great  host  of 
young  people  have  received  the  elements  of  an 
English  education;  have  been  quickened  morally 
and  made  stronger  for  the  serious  work  of  life. 
They  are  scattered  all  over  this  section  of  the 
South,  where  the  colored  population  is  especially 
dense,  and  are  found  in  all  the  trades  and  pro- 
fessions. Many  of  them  are  successful  and  rising 
physicians;  many  of  them  are  pharmacists  and 
dentists;  many  are  in  law  and  the  ministry;  and 
a  large  per  cent  are  teaching. 

If  we  bear  in  mind  the  fact  that  the  nine  hun- 
dred and  odd  colored  public  schools  are  dependent 

183 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

almost  wholly  on  the  missionary  institutions  for 
properly  qualified  teachers,  and  that  Straight  has 
furnished  more  than  her  proportion,  her  vital 
relation  to  the  social,  moral,  and  intellectual  life 
of  the  colored  people  of  the  Gulf  States  becomes 
strikingly  apparent.  But  for  the  leading  part  her 
students  have  taken  along  these  lines,  the  great 
progress  of  these  thirty  odd  years  of  freedom 
would  have  been  impossible,  and  the  friction  be- 
tween the  white  and  colored  races,  which  is  even 
now  so  serious,  would  have  been  tenfold  more 
perplexing  and  dangerous.  The  position  of 
Straight  as  an  institution  unsurpassed  in  the 
quality  of  its  work  has  often  been  recognized  by 
Southern  people.  Several  of  its  trustees  are  citi- 
zens of  New  Orleans. 

What  Straight  has  done  is  only  preliminary  to 
the  greater  work  that  lies  before  her.  The  de- 
mand for  the  college  and  professional  courses 
grows  apace,  as  the  colored  people  realize  more 
and  more  that  the  question  of  self-help,  in  which 
lies  the  preservation  of  their  liberty  and  citizen- 
ship, must  be  wrought  out  under  leaders  of  their 
own  race  in  a  large  part.  Along  this  path  lies  the 
independence  of  character  which  is  the  founda- 
tion of  selfhood.  And  that  she  may  be  able  to 
continue,  on  a  larger  scale  and  in  greater  perfec- 
tion, the  noble  educational  ministry  that  distin- 

184 


SIGNIFICANT  YEARS 

guishes  the  thirty  years  of  her  history,  for  which 
the  colored  people  cherish  such  deep  gratitude, 
it  is  earnestly  and  ardently  hoped  that  some  phi- 
lanthropist and  patriot,  wishing  to  benefit  his 
kind  and  country  by  investing  in  some  institu- 
tion of  learning  that  will  yield  sixty  or  a 
hundredfold  in  the  noble  fruits  of  righteous- 
ness, may  furnish  her  the  means  to  enlarge  her 
buildings,  increase  her  library,  and  endow 
professorships. 

In  1870  a  new  institution  at  Tougaloo,  Missis- 
sippi, ten  miles  from  Jackson,  is  reported  as  being 
in  the  process  of  preparation.  Two  dormitories 
had  been  nearly  completed.  One  hundred  acres 
of  excellent  land  were  purchased  for  cultivation 
on  the  part  of  the  students.  A  main  feature  of 
the  institution  was  to  be  a  normal  department  for 
colored  teachers.  Here  again  we  have  the  be- 
ginning of  a  normal  school  with  a  university 
title.  The  optimism  which  anticipated  the  distant 
future  has,  however,  been  less  harmful  to  genuine 
advancement  in  fundamental  studies  from  the 
fact  that  the  teaching  (faculties)  of  all  these  in- 
stitutions have  recognized  the  actual  situation, 
and  have  labored  as  faithfully  in  laying  the  foun- 
dations for  an  education  as  if  the  institution  were 
not  overweighted  with  its  name.  There  is  this 
to  be  said,  however,  that  in  thus  naming  their 

185 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

institutions  intended  for  development  in  higher 
studies  the  missionary  societies  were  but  fol- 
lowing the  nomenclature  of  the  South,  where 
it  was  and  is  the  popular  custom  to  designate 
all  schools  that  maintain  a  certain  grade  as  a 
"  college." 

Tougaloo,  after  thirty-six  years  of  history, 
stands  unique  among  the  higher  schools  of  the 
Association  in  its  location.  Fisk,  Talladega, 
Straight,  Tillotson,  are  located  in  large  towns  or 
cities;  Tougaloo  is  in  the  country.  Jackson,  the 
state  capital  and  the  nearest  town,  is  seven  miles 
away.  At  Tougaloo  there  is  not  even  a  village; 
a  railroad  station,  post-office,  store,  two  or  three 
small  houses  are  all  that  one  finds  on  alighting 
from  the  Illinois  Central  train.  Hidden  from  the 
railroad  by  the  woods  are  the  admirably  located 
dozen  buildings  of  the  school.  Back  of  the  build- 
ings are  broad  stretches  of  cultivated  lands,  or- 
chards, and  grazing-lands,  under  student  care. 

In  the  country  and  in  the  state,  made  up  mostly 
of  plantations,  having  few  large  towns  or  cities, 
in  the  very  heart  of  the  "  Black  Belt,"  Tougaloo 
University  draws  its  students  mainly  from,  the 
plantations.  Mississippi  furnishes  most  of  them, 
but  Arkansas,  Louisiana,  Tennessee,  Alabama, 
and  Texas  are  usually  represented.  Not  more 
than  one  other  of  the  great  schools  of  the  South 

186 


Chapel,  Tougaloo  University,  Miss. 


Beard  Hail,  Tougaloo  University,  Miss. 


SIGNIFICANT   YEARS 

touches  so  closely  the  great  plantation  population, 
—  the  population  most  ignorant,  most  needy, 
most  important,  most  hopeful.  In  the  uplifting 
to  character  and  religious  education  of  the  young 
men  and  women  from  the  plantation  lies  a  large 
hope  for  the  negro  race. 

The  institution  is  chiefly  devoted  to  secondary 
and  academic  grades.  The  Normal  and  Academy 
courses  are  intended  to  fit  for  general  life  and  to 
prepare  for  entrance  to  college.  College  work 
was  undertaken  in  1897  and  exceptional  students 
have  persevered  to  secure  a  college  diploma.  No 
other  similar  school  in  the  State  provides  instruc- 
tion in  a  complete  college  course.  As  the  years 
move  on  it  is  expected  that  the  school  will  enter 
into  the  full  inheritance  of  its  name. 

Manual  training  and  industrial  work  has  been 
in  progress  at  Tougaloo  for  two  decades.  It  was 
one  of  the  earliest  schools  to  provide  for  it,  and 
it  has  had  continuous  development.  Probably  no 
other  school  of  its  kind  under  the  care  of  the 
Association  has  more  thoroughly  coordinated  it 
with  its  regular  school  work.  The  extent  and 
thoroughness  of  the  manual  training  work  in  the 
courses  have  been  based  chiefly  on  those  of  the 
Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  The 
girls  are  instructed  in  the  various  arts  of  house- 
keeping,   needlework    and    in    domestic   science. 

187 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

The  agricultural  feature  of  the  school  is  espe- 
cially emphatic. 

Tougaloo  is  a  thoroughly  religious  school. 
Christian  character  is  the  aim  of  all  its  work. 
Rarely  have  any  been  graduated  from  the  school 
who  are  not  Christians,  and  its  graduates  have 
done  good  Christian  work.  The  record  of  some 
of  them  is  a  noble  one.  The  testimony  of  one 
of  the  most  distinguished  citizens  of  Mississippi 
is,  "  I  believe  Tougaloo  is  possibly  the  most 
potential  factor  in  developing  the  negroes  of 
our  state  for  the  high  functions  of  useful  citi- 
zens." Several  gentlemen  of  Mississippi  are 
upon  the  Board  of  Trustees. 

As  this  year  closed,  the  Association  catalogued 
thirty-five  churches,  seven  chartered  institutions, 
sixteen  graded  schools  and  one  hundred  and 
forty-seven  common  schools  with  about  20,000 
pupils  in  all,  and  a  permanent  school  property 
costing  over  a  half  million  of  dollars. 

The  year  was  exceptionally  memorable  in  the 
act  of  Congress  amending  the  Constitution  of  the 
United  States,  the  Fifteenth  Amendment.  The 
Proclamation  of  President  Grant  was  an  unusual 
notification  of  an  unusual  event.  The  importance 
of  the  Act,  however,  justified  the  departure  from 
usual  custom  when  he  said,  "  The  adoption  of  the 
Fifteenth   Amendment   constitutes    the   greatest 

t88 


SIGNIFICANT  YEARS 

civil  change  and  the  most  important  event  that 
has  occurred  since  the  Nation  came  into  life.  I 
call  the  attention  of  the  newly  enfranchised  race 
to  the  importance  of  their  striving  in  every  hon- 
orable manner  to  make  themselves  worthy  of  the 
new  privilege.  To  the  race  more  favored  here- 
tofore by  our  laws,  I  would  say,  withhold  no  legal 
privilege  of  advancement  to  the  new  citizen.  I 
would  therefore  call  upon  Congress  and  upon  the 
people  everywhere  to  see  to  it  that  all  have  the 
opportunity  to  acquire  knowledge  which  shall 
make  their  share  in  the  Government  a  blessing 
and  not  a  danger." 

It  was  not  deemed  out  of  place  for  the  Ameri- 
can Missionary  Association  to  call  attention  to 
the  fact  that  its  very  charter  of  work  in  the  South 
was  upon  this  basis,  and  that  its  five  hundred  mis- 
sionary teachers  had  given  and  were  giving  the 
enfranchised  people  both  the  hope  and  the  help 
indispensable  for  this  legal  privilege.  Believing 
that  our  form  of  government  cannot  endure  un- 
less education  and  intelligence  are  generally  dif- 
fused among  the  people,  it  had  planted  its  schools 
among  the  ignorant  to  show  them  not  only  that 
they  could  learn  for  themselves,  but  also  that  they 
could  teach  others  what  is  necessary  for  good 
citizenship. 

This  act,  pronounced  by  the  President  of  the 

189 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

United  States  to  be  "  a  measure  of  grander  im- 
portance than  any  other  one  act  of  the  kind  from 
the  foundation  of  our  free  government  to  the 
present  time,"  now,  after  more  than  three  dec- 
ades, is  not  only  challenged  with  respect  to  its 
wisdom,  but  has  been  practically  nullified  and 
trampled  upon  by  most  of  the  Southern  states. 
The  assertiveness  of  this  disfranchisement,  and 
the  political  emphasis  given  to  several  acts  of 
several  states  to  accomplish  this  has  led  many  in 
the  North  to  question  the  political  sagacity  of  the 
Congress  which  passed  the  Amendment  and  of 
the  President  who  approved  it.  To  meet  this  sen- 
timent, —  for  it  cannot  be  justly  dignified  with 
any  stronger  expression,  —  the  Hon.  Carl  Schurz 
whose  dealing  with  the  question  has  the  moral 
authority  which  comes  from  a  man  who  never 
allowed  any  consideration  of  policy  to  obscure  its 
ethical  meaning,  and  who  wrote  from  an  intimate 
knowledge  of  all  phases  of  what  is  called  the 
"  Negro  Problem,"  declares  that  the  Amendment 
was  not  only  politically  wise  but  was  a  moral  ne- 
cessity. He  suggests  that  had  it  not  been  for 
this,  the  South  would  have  continued  under  mili- 
tary government,  or  the  colored  people  would 
have  been  relegated  to  a  condition  of  practical 
bondage;  their  freedom  effectively  neutralized 
by  state  and  municipal  action. 

190 


SIGNIFICANT   YEARS 

No  one  well  acquainted  with  the  drift  of  things  in 
the  South  at  that  period  will  have  the  slightest  doubt 
that  such  a  policy,  viz.,  leaving  the  states  lately  in 
rebellion  "  entirely  to  themselves,"  would  have  resulted 
in  the  substantial  reenslavement  of  the  freedmen  with 
incalculable  troubles  to  follow.  It  was  foreseen  that 
if  the  exercise  of  suffrage  by  the  bulk  of  negroes  in 
the  South  might  be  undesirable  in  the  long  run,  it 
might  not  prove  as  deplorable  as  would  be  an  in- 
definite military  rule.  It  was  hoped  that  the  Southern 
people  might  see  fit  to  subject  the  suffrage  in  their 
states  to  suitable  qualifications  equally  applicable  to 
whites  and  blacks. 

"  That  the  suppression  of  the  Negro  franchise  by 
direct  or  indirect  means  is  in  contravention  of  the 
spirit  and  intent  of  the  Fifteenth  Amendment  hardly 
admits  of  doubt.  The  intent  of  the  provisions  of  the 
State  Constitution  in  question  as  avowed  by  many 
Southern  men  is  that  the  colored  people  shall  not 
vote.  .  .  .  This  is  evidently  a  political  condition  which 
cannot  continue  to  exist.  It  cannot  possibly  be  per- 
manent. There  will  be  a  movement  either  in  the  direc- 
tion of  reducing  the  negro  to  a  permanent  serfdom, 
or  a  movement  in  the  direction  of  recognising  him 
as  a  citizen  in  the  true  sense  of  the  term.  One  or  the 
other  will  prevail.  ...  I  risk  little  in  predicting  that 
the  reactionists  are  in  this  respect  preparing  new 
trouble  for  the  South,  and  that  only  their  failure  can 
prevent  that  trouble:  the  reactionists  are  the  worst 
enemies  the  Southern  people  have  to  fear. " 

Mr.  Schurz  in  his  discussion  gives  the  hopeful 
view  that  high-minded  Southern  men  of  high 

191 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

standing  will  not  consent  to  be  permanently  set 
at  naught  by  the  reckless  among  the  white  popu- 
lation who  are  using  race  antipathy  and  race  an- 
tagonism to  further  their  purposes.  The  united 
efforts  now  being  made  for  education  in  the 
South,  heartily  and  effectively  supported  by  wise 
and  patriotic  and  conscientious  citizens,  can  do 
much  for  a  solution  of  the  problem  in  harmony 
with  our  free  institutions. 

It  is  not  thinkable  that  the  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ment can  be  repealed.  It  is  not  probable  that  the 
country  will  ever  consent  to  the  practical  reen- 
slavement  of  a  race  once  made  free.  Let  us  hope 
that  the  Act  of  1870  which  President  Grant  hoped 
might  be  "  a  blessing  and  not  a  danger  "  may  yet 
have  the  recognition  of  a  united  and  loyal  people. 
Let  us  hope. 

In  1 87 1  the  Governor  of  Georgia  appointed  a 
"  Board  of  Visitors,"  all  Southern  gentlemen, 
"  to  attend  the  examination  of  Normal  and  Pre- 
paratory departments  of  Atlanta  University"  and 
report  to  him.  The  school  had  then  been  in  active 
operation  about  two  years.  The  examinations 
continued  through  three  days.  The  examiners, 
nine  in  number,  transmitted  their  experience, 
saying,  "  at  every  step  of  the  examination  we 
were  impressed  with  the  fallacy  of  the  popular 
idea  which,  in  common  with  thousands  of  others, 

192 


SIGNIFICANT  YEARS 

the  majority  of  the  undersigned  have  heretofore 
entertained,  that  the  members  of  the  African  race 
are  not  capable  of  a  high  grade  of  intellectual 
culture.  The  rigid  tests  to  which  the  classes  in 
algebra  and  geometry  and  Latin  and  Greek  were 
subjected  unequivocally  demonstrated  that  under 
judicious  training  and  persevering  study,  there  are 
many  who  can  attain  a  high  grade  of  intellectual 
culture.  Many  exhibited  a  degree  of  mental  cul- 
ture which,  considering  the  length  of  time  their 
minds  have  been  in  training,  would  do  credit  to 
members  of  any  race."  This  testimony  which 
cheered  the  hearts  of  President  Ware  and  Pro- 
fessor Chase  has  not  only  been  confirmed  in  the 
subsequent  history  of  the  institution,  but  also 
greatly  accentuated. 

But  seven  years  had  elapsed  since  the  close  of 
the  war,  and  less  than  a  decade  had  passed  since 
the  Association  had  begun  to  work  out  its  mission 
with  any  degree  of  definiteness.  As  the  fruit  of 
this  decade  there  were  reported  seven  chartered 
institutions,  consisting  of  Hampton,  Fisk,  Berea, 
Talladega,  Atlanta,  Tougaloo,  and  Straight,  to- 
gether with  the  Theological  department  of  How- 
ard University,  twenty  graded  schools  with  a 
certain  amount  of  instruction  called  "  Normal," 
with  special  reference  to  the  preparation  of 
teachers,  and  sixty-nine  common  schools,  chiefly 
13  i93 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

under  white  teachers.  Forty-seven  students  were 
for  theological  studies,  and  fifty-six  were  enrolled 
in  regular  college  classes.  Certainly  this  is  a 
good  record  for  seven  years  out  of  slavery. 

The  number  of  schools  and  pupils  reported  was 
fewer  than  in  the  immediate  beginning  of  the 
work  in  the  South,  but  those  which  existed  had 
become  far  more  significant. 


194 


X 

CONCENTRATION 


Withdrawal  from  all  foreign  fields  except  Mendi.  — 
Special  attention  to  preparatory  schools.  —  Also  to  the 
organization  of  churches.  —  Rev.  G.  W.  Andrews,  d.d., 
in  Alabama.  —  Religion  in  the  schools.  —  Gifts  of  Mrs. 
Daniel  Stone  of  Maiden,  Mass.  —  New  buildings  for 
Atlanta,  Talladega,  Fisk  and  Straight  chartered  institu- 
tions. —  Hostility  developed  in  the  South.  —  Ku  Klux 
Klan.  —  The  Southern  idea  of  the  "  problem  "  versus  the 
theory  and  practise  of  the  Association.  —  Standing  for 
colors.  —  Death  of  Rev.  E.  P.  Smith  in  Africa.  —  His 
work  in  the  South  and  in  the  Indian  field.  —  Death  of 
Secretary  Whipple.  —  His  character  and  work.  —  Death 
of  Lewis  Tappan.  —  Death  of  Rev.  Simeon  S.  Jocelyn.  — ■ 
Dr.  Strieby's  estimate.  —  The  coming  of  Henry  Swift 
DeForest  to  Talladega  College.  —  His  impressions  of  his 
work. 


X 

CONCENTRATION 

TEN  years  had  established  the  Association 
in  its  theory  of  missions  to  the  negro 
people.  The  educational  results  so  far, 
both  in  extent  and  quality,  had  brought  a  com- 
plete reversal  of  judgment  to  those  who  had  ques- 
tioned their  capacity  and  who  had  believed  their 
inferiority  to  be  innate  and  inherent.  But  mil- 
lions for  whose  presence  in  our  country  the  nation 
was  responsible  were  yet  untouched  by  any  positive 
Christian  influences.  It  was,  therefore,  decided, 
now  that  the  missionary  work  was  thoroughly 
organized,  in  the  interests  of  concentrated  effort 
and  in  view  of  the  responsibility  for  this  larger 
field,  to  withdraw  from  all  foreign  work  with  the 
exception  of  the  Mendi  Mission  in  Africa. 

Meanwhile  the  Southern  people,  who  with 
splendid  endeavor  had  adjusted  themselves  to 
their  new  and  hard  conditions,  had  inaugurated 
a  public  school  system  to  afford  elementary  in- 
struction in  which  they  had  so  far  advanced  that 
in  many  cities  and  larger  towns  secular  schools 
for  the  negro  children  made  the  duty  in  this  direc- 

197 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

tion  on  the  part  of  the  Association  less  pressing. 
Thoroughly  qualified  teachers  for  these,  however, 
were  as  yet  few  —  the  product  of  the  schools 
founded  and  carried  on  by  Northern  faith  and 
benevolence.  Many  educated  in  our  schools  were 
already  doing  remarkably  well  relatively  as 
teachers  in  elementary  instruction  when  the  con- 
ditions, the  lack  of  heredity,  of  early  home- 
training,  or  of  any  wide  and  generous  reading 
are  remembered.  But  the  overwhelming  major- 
ity of  teachers  for  the  public  schools  within  ten 
years  could  themselves  be  but  little  more  than 
beginners. 

It  was  increasingly  evident  that  Christian 
benevolence,  which  looked  beyond  this  secular 
elementary  and  inadequate  instruction  afforded 
in  such  public  schools  as  had  been  started,  must 
not  stay  its  hand  in  the  larger  missionary  neces- 
sity for  positively  Christian  schools,  whose  char- 
ter should  be  in  the  supremacy  of  Christian 
faith  which  should  do  the  teaching.  The  teacher 
who  visited  the  pupils  in  their  homes  so  that  the 
poverty  and  barrenness  of  home  life  felt  her  ele- 
vating touch,  was  more  than  a  teacher  of  geog- 
raphy and  arithmetic.  It  was  faithful  instruction 
in  the  studies  of  the  books  but  it  was  also  religion 
through  the  week,  the  Christian  influence  of  the 
Christian  school  permeating  and  vitalizing  homes 

198 


CONCENTRATION 

and  character  with  its  saving  power.  The  Asso- 
ciation schools  were  not  only  far  in  advance  of 
the  purely  secular  schools  in  their  methods  and 
standards  of  study,  but  they  were  also  working 
out  the  teaching  of  the  New  Testament  in  the 
development  of  character  so  that  principles  and 
conduct  should  be  Christian.  The  state  schools 
were  not  chartered  to  undertake  this  kind  of 
work.    They  could  not  do  it. 

There  was  no  question  therefore  for  the  Asso- 
ciation as  to  what  was  the  right  way.  The  public 
schools  could  relieve  it  from  much  of  its  merely 
elementary  work,  and  they  were  already  doing 
this.  This  accounts  for  the  fact  that  the  enrol- 
ment of  pupils  at  this  period  showed  a  great 
decrease  while  our  work  was  being  concentrated, 
and  while  the  courses  of  studies  and  the  stand- 
ards were  continually  being  strengthened  in 
thoroughness  and  enlarged  in  scope. 

It  was  during  this  second  decade  of  develop- 
ment that  particular  endeavor  was  made  for  the 
organization  of  Congregational  churches.  The 
pleadings  for  them  were  constant,  and  there  were 
many  tentative  experiments  to  meet  these  urgent 
requests.  It  certainly  was  not  because  the  Asso- 
ciation was  indifferent  that  these  churches  in- 
creased in  no  greater  numbers,  —  far  from  this, 
—  but  because  many  endeavors  to  organize  them 

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AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

were  found  in  their  first  steps  to  be  practically 
useless.  For  the  old  excitement  to  give  place  to 
intelligent  conviction,  tradition  and  superstition 
to  Bible  knowledge,  and  the  sensual  enjoyment 
of  religious  emotion  to  Christian  principle  and 
duty,  all  called  for  time.  The  Congregational 
way  of  self-government  in  many  cases  asked  for 
a  fitness  for  self-government  which  did  not  exist. 
At  the  same  time,  such  churches  as  managed  to 
live  proved  in  their  sound,  healthy,  religious  influ- 
ence that  no  discouragements  should  cause  the 
Association  to  relax  its  efforts  to  plant  churches 
which  might  live.  The  Rev.  George  W.  An- 
drews, d.d.,  who  was  largely  identified  with  the 
planting  of  new  churches  in  Alabama,  eight  hav- 
ing been  organized  within  a  short  period,  wrote, 
in  1875,  as  follows: 

No  tongue  can  tell  the  greatness  of  the  need  that 
such  work  be  done  here  as  the  Association  is  doing. 
Let  me  say  that  there  is  here  a  vast  wilderness  of 
ignorance  and  sin  scarcely  entered  by  the  light  of  a 
Christian  civilization.  Though  this  wilderness  is  alive 
with  people,  you  may  travel  a  hundred  miles  into  it 
and  not  find  a  schoolhouse  or  scarcely  a  church  edifice 
without  turning  from  the  way  to  hunt  one,  and  when 
found  you  could  scarcely  guess  what  the  building  is 
for.  The  curse  of  two  hundred  years  hangs  heavy 
upon  the  people  and  the  land.  A  true  son  of  the  South 
said  to  me  this  week,  "  The  future  of  the  negro  race 

200 


CONCENTRATION 

looks  dark.  The  only  hope  is  to  educate  the  colored 
people;  the  North  must  do  this,  for  the  South  is  not 
able,  and,  moreover,  is  utterly  indifferent  to  it." 

But  so  completely  at  one  with  the  missionary 
purpose  of  the  church  work  were  the  schools 
in  religious  character  and  influence  that  it  was 
difficult  to  draw  a  line  between  the  two  depart- 
ments to  tell  where  the  one  ended  and  the  other 
began.  For  example,  in  1879,  of  fifty-two  grad- 
uates of  Atlanta  University  fifty,  at  their  gradua- 
tion day,  proved  to  be  consistently  professing 
Christians.  Fisk  reported  additions  to  the  Col- 
lege Church  at  every  communion.  At  Talladega 
College  all  but  six  of  the  boarding  students  were 
professing  Christians.  The  pastor  at  Hampton 
wrote,  "  Nowhere  can  teachers  be  found  more 
earnestly  evangelical,  laboring  often  beyond  their 
strength  to  bring  souls  to  Christ."  At  Berea  all 
the  graduates  of  the  year  were  professing  Chris- 
tians. These  Christian  students,  as  they  went 
out  to  their  school  work  in  vacations,  had  learned 
to  preach  also.  It  was  carefully  estimated  that 
in  this  one  year  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand 
pupils  were  taught  by  the  students  of  these  higher 
schools.  The  churches  in  number  had  risen  to 
sixty-seven. 

We  had  now  come  to  the  close  of  the  second 
term  of  the  Presidential  administration  of  General 

201 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

Grant.  Conditions  had  greatly  changed  since 
the  war.  The  country  had  been  rapidly  increas- 
ing in  population  and  in  wealth.  The  Atlantic 
and  Pacific  oceans  had  been  linked  with  a  line 
of  continuous  rail.  In  the  North  there  was  a 
general  improvement  in  educational  methods. 
Literature  in  the  North  had  reached  a  higher 
level  than  ever.  The  Association  felt  the  impulse, 
and  its  higher  institutions  for  the  preparation  of 
teachers  absorbed  in  a  large  measure  its  vigor- 
ous efforts  and  its  resources.  Through  the  gen- 
erous gifts  of  Mrs.  Daniel  Stone  of  Maiden, 
Massachusetts,  of  $150,000,  new  buildings  had 
been  added  to  Atlanta,  Talladega,  Fisk,  and 
Straight  chartered  schools.  Meanwhile  white 
people  with  courage  and  noble  endeavor  were 
adjusting  themselves  to  their  new  conditions,  but 
the  Association  was  meeting  a  hostility  it  had 
not  experienced  before.  The  barbaric  element 
among  the  whites  —  and  slavery  had  left  a  deep 
taint  of  barbarism  —  came  out  in  its  worst  insults 
to  the  "  nigger  teachers  "  with  the  burning  of 
our  schoolhouses  here  and  there.  The  Ku  Klux 
Klan,  which  I  find  characterized  in  our  magazine 
as  the  "  Thugs  of  America,"  an  organization  to 
overawe  the  negroes,  often  sought  to  terrorize 
their  teachers,  while  the  better  social  elements 
naturally  looked  askance  at  those  whose  presence 

202 


CONCENTRATION 

was  a  reminder  of  conquest  and  humiliation. 
These  teachers  had  gone  to  the  blacks  with  a 
feeling  of  obligation  to  those  who  never  before 
had  their  human  rights  acknowledged  and  who 
were  needy  in  body  and  soul.  Meanwhile  the 
cause  of  the  negro  no  longer  enlisted  in  the  North 
the  same  degree  of  early  sentiment  which  charac- 
terized it.  It  had  come  to  be  a  calm  and  cool  — 
somewhat  too  cool  —  consideration  of  Christian 
duty  and  missionary  obligation.  It  was,  never- 
theless, felt  to  be  the  great  problem  before  the 
nation. 

The  Southern  solution  of  the  problem  was 
largely  one  which  relegated  the  negro  to  perpet- 
ual inferiority.  He  was  to  "  keep  his  place  "  as 
a  member  of  a  subject  race,  and  if  necessary  he 
was  to  be  compelled  to  stay  in  his  place.  This  is 
not  to  say  that  there  was  no  exception  to  this 
theory  —  only  that  it  was  the  dominant  one.  The 
best  elements  of  Southern  society  wished  the 
negro  well.  They  would  have  him  better  his  con- 
dition, to  be  a  more  useful  factor  in  their  political 
economy.  They  favored  his  education  along  lines 
that  would  make  him  a  better  laborer  and  more 
thrifty  in  his  honest  acquirements,  but  they  did 
not  wish  him  to  aspire  socially  or  politically.  He 
must  never  forget  that  he  is  a  negro,  belonging 
to  a  race  constitutionally  inferior. 

The  American  Missionary  Association,  with  no 
203 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

political  theories  to  exploit,  with  no  social  doc- 
trines to  teach  other  than  those  of  human  brother- 
hood, went  to  the  negro  people  with  the  theory 
that  God  had  made  of  one  blood  all  on  the  face 
of  the  earth  and  that  there  was  one  common 
Saviour,  whose  way  of  redemption  was  revealed 
for  all  men.  It  simply  predicated  the  manhood 
of  the  negro  as  entitled  to  all  that  a  Christian  civ- 
ilization had  to  give  so  far  as  he  should  prove 
himself  capable  of  receiving  it.  Whatever  knowl- 
edge, whatever  influences  a  Christian  civiliza- 
tion has  to  offer  to  invigorate  and  enlarge  the 
souls  of  men  anywhere,  should  not  be  forbidden 
to  the  negro  or  withheld  from  him. 

It  was  inevitable  at  this  period  that  the  Associ- 
ation must  look  for  its  support  to  those  who  ac- 
cepted its  principles.  It  was  not  influencing  or 
antagonizing  those  who  did  not  accept  these 
principles.  In  whatever  disturbances  and  perse- 
cutions which  came  through  the  hostility  of  those 
who  were  violent,  there  was  only  patience  and 
hope  for  a  better  day.  The  records  of  the 
American  Missionary  are  singularly  free  from  ex- 
hibitions of  bitterness.  It  had  no  lessons  of  hos- 
tility towards  those  who  differed.  It  went  with 
its  broad  principle  of  love  to  God  and  good-will 
to  man,  and  never  yielded  an  iota  from  the  duty 
and  privilege  included  in  this  principle. 

204 


CONCENTRATION 

How,  through  all  the  excitement  of  this  trying 
period,  it  kept  on  its  work  of  regeneration,  stand- 
ing by  its  colors,  teaching  and  preaching  with 
success,  can  only  be  explained  as  we  now  review 
the  history  of  those  days,  by  the  fact  that  it  had 
the  guidance  of  God,  and  that  it  was  following 
and  outworking  a  wisdom  higher  than  that  of 
man.  Said  John  Wesley  in  his  day,  "  The  best 
of  all  is  God  with  us."  The  prediction  that  the 
theories  which  the  Association  was  outworking 
would  fail,  was  constantly  disproved  in  the  Chris- 
tian results  of  its  Christian  work. 

It  was  in  1876  that  intelligence  came  from 
Africa  of  the  death  of  one  whose  work  for  the 
Association  for  ten  years  had  been  very  promi- 
nent and  efficient.  The  Rev.  E.  P.  Smith,  who 
early  entered  into  the  service  of  the  Association 
as  District  Secretary,  stationed  at  Cincinnati, 
was  asked  to  visit  Africa  with  reference  to  the 
reconstruction  and  enlargement  of  the  mission 
work  there,  and  while  on  this  mission  he  died, 
after  an  illness  of  two  days,  of  African  fever. 
Mr.  Smith  was  born  in  South  Britain,  Connecti- 
cut, and  was  graduated  at  Yale  College  in  1849. 
He  studied  two  years  in  Union  Theological  Semi- 
nary, New  York,  and  while  there  associated  him- 
self with  Charles  Loring  Brace  in  his  work  of 
reclaiming  and  finding  homes  for  destitute  and 

205 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

vagrant  children.  He  completed  his  theological 
studies  in  Andover,  Massachusetts,  and  was  set- 
tled at  Pepperell  in  that  state.  At  the  breaking 
out  of  the  war  Mr.  Smith  gave  his  services  to  the 
Christian  Commission,  where  he  demonstrated 
his  administrative  ability  to  such  a  degree  that 
when  the  war  came  to  an  end  he  was  sought  for 
by  the  Association.  After  a  brief  service  in  Cin- 
cinnati he  was  called  to  take  charge  of  the  field 
work  of  the  Association  in  the  South,  and  was 
eminently  useful  in  the  work  of  planting  schools 
and  colleges  for  the  freedmen.  When  General 
Grant  announced  his  Indian  policy,  and  invited 
the  different  benevolent  societies  to  appoint 
agents  to  cooperate  with  the  government  in  the 
work  of  Indian  civilization,  Mr.  Smith  offered 
his  services  and  was  appointed  to  Indian  tribes 
in  Minnesota.  His  work  here  brought  him  after- 
wards an  appointment  as  "  Commissioner  of 
Indian  Affairs  "  in  Washington,  D.  C.  Here  he 
met  a  merciless  opposition  from  designing  men 
who  sought  to  profit  at  the  expense  of  the  Indians. 
His  faithful  administration  of  the  office  of  Indian 
Commissioner,  which  he  filled  with  signal  ability, 
made  him  many  enemies,  and  on  the  retirement 
of  the  Secretary  of  the  Interior  Mr.  Smith  re- 
signed and  was  elected  President  of  Howard 
University.    This  position  he  was  to  assume  upon, 

206 


CONCENTRATION 

his  return  to  America.  His  sudden  death  in 
Africa  was  felt  to  be  a  great  loss  to  the  Associa- 
tion. His  services  were  such  as  richly  deserve 
its  remembrance. 

The  heaviest  bereavement  that  had  fallen  upon 
the  Association  came  at  the  end  of  this  second 
decade  of  its  Southern  work  in  the  death  of  its 
senior  Secretary,  Dr.  Whipple.  From  1846,  when 
the  little  society  was  a  thing  of  derision  and  pity, 
for  thirty  years  he  had  held  this  post  of  respon- 
sibility. With  a  faithfulness  and  spirit  of  self- 
sacrifice  that  they  only  knew  who  were  in  the 
office  closest  to  him,  he  had  held  on  against  popu- 
lar consent  to  wrong  until  he  had  seen  the  world 
come  over  to  his  side. 

One  of  the  early  graduates  of  Oberlin  College 
and  of  its  theological  school,  Dr.  Whipple  had 
been  a  professor  of  mathematics  and  natural 
philosophy  in  his  alma  mater  for  nine  years.  He 
brought  to  the  new-born  Association  not  merely 
a  radical  championship  of  the  rights  of  man  and 
an  intense  conviction  of  the  sin  of  slavery,  but 
with  it  a  considerate  and  irenic  spirit,  a  calm  and 
judicial  mind  that  had  much  to  do  with  the  char- 
acter which  the  society  took  on  of  positive  and 
fearless  testimony  for  its  convictions,  with  the 
gentleness  and  freedom  from  the  bitterness  so 
often  seen  in  those  who  plead  for  reforms.     Of 

207 


AMERICAN    MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

large  physical  stature,  with  a  poise  and  dignity 
that  were  attractive,  the  first  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary began  his  life-work.  It  was  a  laborious 
and  anxious  life,  but  it  was  a  great  one,  more 
than  fulfilling  the  hopes  of  those  who  had  called 
him  from  the  quiet  of  his  studies  and  his  teach- 
ing at  Oberlin. 

A  clerical  assistant,  who  later  came  into  inti- 
mate knowledge  of  his  quality  and  character, 
thus  writes  of  him :  — 

My  first  introduction  to  Secretary  Whipple  was  on 
an  afternoon  as  he  sat  at  his  desk  in  the  little  upper 
office  of  56  Reade  Street.  There  was  another  desk 
in  that  room  that  I  was  hoping  to  use  for  a  few  months 
if  all  should  be  satisfactory,  and  it  was  therefore  with 
a  little  trepidation  as  well  as  a  great  deal  of  interest 
that  I  looked  upon  the  Senior  Secretary.  .  .  .  His 
well-knit  form  and  broad  shoulders,  gray  hair  —  a 
silver  halo  above  his  face  —  a  fine  broad  forehead,  and 
kindly  eyes  looking  forth  from  under  Websterian  eye- 
brows gave  me  the  impression  of  a  man  of  unusually 
strong  character  and  intellect.  As  I  came  to  know  him, 
I  felt  that  the  patrician  element  was  in  his  inner  nature 
as  well  as  in  his  outward  appearance.  If  I  were  asked 
to  name  the  principal  characteristics  of  Secretary 
Whipple  as  I  knew  him  in  the  time  that  followed, 
I  should  certainly  say,  "  sound  judgment  and  fairness." 
.  .  .  These  were  strikingly  preeminent.  But  there  were 
other  qualities  I  should  wish  to  name.  His  devotion 
to  details  was  a  strong  point  in  all  his  office  work,  for 

208 


CONCENTRATION 

an  accurate  knowledge  of  the  subject  in  hand,  so  that 
praise  or  blame  should  fall  only  where  it  was  merited, 
formed  the  basis  of  his  fairness.  He  knew  to  the 
minutest  detail  whereof  he  spoke  and  wrote.  He  was 
industrious  to  the  extreme.  I  never  took  my  seat  in 
the  morning  without  passing  a  long  table  in  the  outer 
office  which  had  this  true  legend  connected  with  it. 
In  the  early  days  when  struggle  and  self-sacrifice  were 
prime  factors  in  carrying  on  the  Society's  work,  Sec- 
retary Whipple  burnt  his  candle  at  both  ends,  some- 
times even  writing  in  his  office  till  one  or  two  o'clock 
in  the  morning;  then,  wrapping  himself  in  a  blanket, 
he  would  throw  himself  upon  this  table  for  a  few  hours' 
sleep,  rising  and  resuming  work  by  four  or  five  o'clock. 
Even  when  I  knew  him  it  was  difficult  to  get  ahead  of 
him  in  the  morning,  for  he  always  was  very  early  at 
his  desk,  working  through  the  day,  hardly  taking  time 
for  a  hasty  luncheon.  Vacation  or  respite  was  not  in 
all  his  thought.  In  his  letter  dictation  there  was  a  sort 
of  balance  as  if  he  were  weighing  what  he  was  saying. 
Persistency  was  also  a  strong  characteristic.  Sensi- 
tiveness to  what  was  right  and  wrong  made  him  all 
his  life  such  an  intense  champion  of  human  rights  and 
freedom.  His  judgments  were  never  quick,  but  when 
once  his  opinions  were  formed,  they  were  so  clear  to 
his  own  mind  and  so  reasonable  that  they  carried  con- 
viction to  other  minds.  This  well-balanced  judgment, 
together  with  his  dignity,  candor,  and  noble  bearing, 
made  him  a  strong  force  when  he  visited  Washington 
for  conferences  with  the  government  on  Indian  or  edu- 
cational affairs.  All  these  stern  virtues  commanded 
respect.     I  should  be  unjust  to  him,  and  to  myself,  if 


M 


209 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

I  did  not  add  the  more  genial  virtues  of  simplicity, 
generosity,  and  kindliness.  Though  always  busy,  he 
was  ever  ready  to  help  others  when  he  could.  He 
so  tempered  his  fervor  with  simplicity,  his  strength 
with  modesty,  his  profound  thought  fulness  with  kind- 
heartedness  that  no  one  felt  the  severity.  He  was 
kindness  itself.  If  he  had  the  quality  of  humor,  he  did 
not  have  time  to  indulge  it,  his  life  was  given  so  in- 
tensely to  more  serious  things.  The  nearest  approach 
to  humor  that  I  recall  is  that  when  in  looking  over  a 
letter  that  he  had  himself  written,  which  did  not  quite 
suit  him  for  accuracy,  he  said  to  me  in  a  very  severe 
tone,  "  When  you  make  such  a  blunder  as  that,  I  wish 
you  would  do  it  in  your  own  handwriting."  But  as 
his  assistant  I  have  no  remembrance  of  a  single  unjust 
or  unkind  remark.  On  the  contrary,  he  was  always 
appreciative  of  work  done,  and  thoughtful  of  the 
comfort  and  well-being  of  those  with  whom  he  was 
associated.  When  death  suddenly  called  him  after 
thirty  years  in  the  secretaryship,  and  he  left  us,  it 
was  a  well-beloved  friend  who  had  gone,  and  he  be- 
queathed a  great  inspiration  for  others  to  carry  on 
the  work  he  had  so  well  begun  and  in  which  he  was 
a  pioneer. 

Of  the  other  heroic  men  associated  with  Dr. 
Whipple  in  the  early  and  dark  days  of  the  anti- 
slavery  struggle  and  of  the  Association's  history, 
many  had  fallen  in  death.  Five  of  its  presidents 
had  in  succession  died.  Mr.  Lewis  Tappan,  to 
whom  the  Association  perhaps  more  than  to  any 
other  one  man  owed  its  organization,  and  who 

2IO 


CONCENTRATION 

for  twenty-seven  years  had  been  identified  with 
its  administration,  died  in  1873.  Like  his  dis- 
tinguished brother,  Arthur  Tappan,  he  was 
deeply  interested  in  the  antislavery  missions 
which  preceded  the  organization  of  the  Associa- 
tion. He  was  prominent  in  the  movement  which 
rescued  the  Amistad  captives,  and  which  served 
so  largely  to  arouse  the  nation  to  the  arrogance 
and  aggressions  of  the  slave  power.  It  was  he, 
with  the  Rev.  S.  S.  Jocelyn  and  Rev.  Joshua 
Leavitt,  who  raised  the  funds  to  defend  these 
captives  in  the  courts.  When  at  last  they  were 
released,  John  Quincy  Adams,  the  old  man  elo- 
quent, took  pleasure  in  recognizing  the  en- 
ergy and  transcendent  ability  of  Lewis  Tap- 
pan  towards  the  final  success.  By  many  Lewis 
Tappan  was  regarded  as  "  a  man  of  one  idea," 
whose  whole  being  was  absorbed  in  the  work  of 
emancipation.  He  was  far  from  that.  His  pas- 
tor, Henry  Ward  Beecher,  at  his  funeral  did  not 
overstate  the  facts  when  he  said,  "  He  joined  him- 
self to  whatever  was  pronounced  in  morals  or  in 
religion,  whatever  was  most  aggressive,  what- 
ever would  be  to  him  the  mightiest  attack  upon 
the  kingdom  of  Satan,  whatever  would  carry  for- 
ward best  the  kingdom  of  the  Lord  and  Saviour 
Jesus  Christ.  To  these  causes,  whatever  might 
be  their  humility,  however  feeble,  he  gave  himself 

211 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

heart  and  soul  with  the  personal  influence  and  all 
the  power  of  pecuniary  influence  which  he  could 
command."  His  frequent  benefactions  were 
large,  and  for  years  he  gave  his  unrequited  serv- 
ices as  treasurer  of  the  Association.  Few  per- 
sons had  broader  sympathies;  he  was  the  effi- 
cient friend  of  other  missionary  societies;  he 
aided  in  the  education  of  young  men  and  in  the 
endowment  of  colleges,  and  was  personally  active 
for  the  religious  welfare  of  his  fellow  men.  He 
lived  to  see  his  leading  positions  vindicated  in  the 
admissions  of  many  who  once  most  strenuously 
opposed  them,  and  to  realize  some  of  the  most 
cherished  aims  of  his  zealous  life. 

Another  of  the  heroic  spirits  of  1846  laid  aside 
his  armor  in  the  last  year  of  this  second  decade 
of  new  work  in  the  South.  The  Rev.  Simeon  S. 
Jocelyn,  who  died  in  1879,  was  a  Puritan  hero. 
In  1839  ne  was  the  active  chairman  of  the  com- 
mittee to  defend  and  protect  the  Amistad  captives. 
He  was  prominent  in  the  organization  of  the 
Association.  For  seven  years  he  was  its  Record- 
ing Secretary,  for  ten  out  of  the  subsequent  years, 
from  1853  to  1863,  Corresponding  Secretary 
with  charge  of  the  Home  Department,  and  from 
that  date  to  1879,  until  his  death,  a  member  of  the 
Executive  Committee.  A  bold  and  determined 
man,  but  as  gentle  as  he  was  brave  and  as  cautious 

212 


CONCENTRATION 

as  he  was  intrepid.     Said  Dr.  Strieby,  who  was 
much  of  the  same  spirit  himself :  — 

It  is  a  great  mistake  to  suppose  that  the  bold  and 
determined  men  who  take  front  rank  in  great  moral 
conflicts  are  destitute  of  kindly  impulses.  Mr.  Jocelyn 
was  utterly  uncompromising  where  duty  called,  yet  I 
have  seldom  known  a  man  of  more  tender  sympathies, 
of  quicker,  almost  womanly,  sensibility  to  sorrow  or 
suffering.  Nor  are  all  such  men,  as  is  often  imagined, 
so  intent  on  pushing  great  reforms  as  to  overlook  the 
rights  of  others.  Mr.  Jocelyn  was  most  scrupulous  in 
regard  to  the  claims  of  all  men,  even  of  his  opponents. 
Nor  are  all  such  seemingly  rash  and  headlong  men  lack- 
ing in  caution.  He  was  the  most  cautious  man  I  ever 
knew.  The  marvel  is  that  such  a  man  could  have  risked 
reputation,  property,  and  even  life  itself  in  an  enter- 
prise so  doubtful  of  success  and  beset  with  so  many 
dangers  to  the  peace  of  the  church  and  the  nation. 
The  only  explanation  was  in  his  clear  perception 
through  all  glosses  of  the  path  of  duty  and  the  over- 
whelming impulse  of  conscience  to  pursue  it  in  spite 
of  all  dangers.  Of  such  stuff  are  moral  heroes 
made. 

Mr.  Jocelyn  was  born  in  1799,  and  with  a  well- 
rounded  life  of  fourscore  years  he  inherited  the 
promises. 

"  One  generation  goeth,  and  another  genera- 
tion cometh."  The  last  offices  of  loving  regard 
had  only  been  uttered  when  we  hear  from  an- 
other of  such  like  spirit  and  temper  as  to  cause 

213 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

one  to  feel  that  the  mantle  of  the  departed  had 
fallen  on  him. 

Rev.  Henry  Swift  DeForest,  a  graduate  of 
Yale,  and  subsequently  an  instructor  in  that  col- 
lege, after  a  few  years  of  successful  ministry,  had 
just  accepted  the  presidency  of  Talladega  College 
in  Alabama.    He  wrote  his  reasons :  — 

First,  I  am  needed.  This  is  a  great  work  and  the 
workmen  are  few.  It  is  not  here  that  men  stand  carpet- 
bag in  hand  waiting  for  a  chance  to  preach.  We  have 
more  of  a  field  than  we  can  occupy.  On  all  sides  comes 
up  the  Macedonian  cry,  "  Come  over  and  help  us."  I 
am  often  weary  on  Saturday,  and  poorly  enough  pre- 
pared for  Sunday,  but  I  am  spared  the  anguish  of  not 
knowing  where  to  go  or  what  to  do.  Few  would  care 
for  my  shoes,  but  I  hope  to  wear  them  myself  and  wear 
them  here. 

Second,  there  is  here  perhaps  an  unsurpassed  oppor- 
tunity for  influencing  men.  I  am  not  only  a  "  home 
missionary,"  but  also  a  foreign  missionary  to  Africa, 
and  that  last  with  special  facilities.  I  am  master  of  the 
language,  and  do  not  work  at  the  disadvantage  of  a 
half-learned  and  half-mastered  tongue.  Without  the 
honors  of  a  foreign  missionary,  I  am  also  without  many 
of  his  disadvantages.    It  is  a  double  missionary  field. 

Third,  the  most  pressing  work  in  our  own  country 
is  here.  As  surely  as  in  1861  our  national  peril  is  in 
the  South.  Patriotism  as  well  as  humanity  and  Chris- 
tianity keep  me  here,  and  no  campaigning  in  our  recent 
war  seemed  more  of  a  duty  of  loyalty  than  that  in 
which  I  am  now  engaged.    Certainly  just  now  I  would 

214 


CONCENTRATION 

rather  be  here  than  in  any  other  part  of  the  universe  of 
God.  Tell  our  friends  at  the  North  that  we  do  not 
need  their  sympathy  but  we  do  need  their  help. 

He  was  a  good  type  of  the  workers  of  the 
Association  in  1880. 

In  1 88 1  Tillotson  Collegiate  Institute  at  Aus- 
tin, Texas,  was  established  and  opened  to  stu- 
dents. It  was  named  in  honor  of  Rev.  George  J. 
Tillotson  of  Connecticut,  whose  generous  con- 
tributions made  it  possible. 


215 


XI 

WELCOME   AND    UNWELCOME 


The  fluctuations  of  Southern  sentiment  regarding  the 
work  of  the  Association.  —  Favorable  views.  —  Rev. 
A.  G.  Haygood,  d.d.  —  Reaction.  —  The  Glenn  Bill  in 
Georgia.  —  The  two  civilizations,  one  of  righteousness 
and  the  other  of  force.  —  The  color  line  in  churches.  — 
Caste  prejudice.  —  Caste  and  social  distinctions.  —  Back- 
ward glances.  —  Brave  women.  —  Tribute  of  an  eloquent 
negro  to  the  women  teachers  of  this  period. 


XI 

WELCOME   AND   UNWELCOME 

IT  is  interesting  to  notice  the  fluctuations  of 
Southern  sentiment  and  the  waves  of  popu- 
lar opinion  regarding  the  work  of  the  Asso- 
ciation among  the  colored  people,  as  its  methods 
and  results  had  become  better  known.  The  fears 
that  negro  education  would  lead  to  danger  were 
proved  to  be  without  foundation.  The  mission- 
ary magazine  in  1881  reports  the  annual  closing 
exercises  of  various  institutions  and  uses  these 
words  with  reference  to  the  growing  spirit  of 
brotherhood  between  the  North  and  the  South : 

Perhaps  the  influence  of  our  institutions  upon  the 
leading  minds  of  the  South,  and  especially  upon  those 
interested  in  the  popular  education,  never  was  so  great 
as  now.  Governors  of  southern  states,  mayors  of 
cities,  presidents  of  southern  colleges,  representatives 
of  the  pulpit,  the  bar,  and  the  press  attend  our  anni- 
versary exercises  and  enter  heartily  and  with  apprecia- 
tion into  the  spirit  of  the  work.  In  this  we  find  much 
occasion  for  thanking  God  and  taking  courage.  It  is 
fidelity  to  the  principles  that  have  actuated  the  Asso- 
ciation for  nearly  forty  years  that  is  winning  the  hearts 
of  the  people,  and  every  year  confirms  the  conviction 

219 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

that  we  have  only  to  press  forward  in  order  to  achieve 
the  best  results  for  the  whole  southern  portion  of  our 
country. 

An  ex-mayor  of  the  city  of  Atlanta,  at  the 
dedication  of  the  First  Congregational  Church, 
said  that  "  the  thrift,  orderly  habits,  and  acqui- 
sition of  property  "  in  a  certain  portion  of  that 
city  were  "  mainly  due  to  the  school  and  the 
church  of  The  American  Missionary  Associa- 
tion." As  an  illustration  of  the  favorable  feeling, 
one  among  many,  the  Memphis  Daily  Appeal,  the 
Daily  Avalanche,  and  the  Public  Ledger  devoted 
a  large  space  to  the  reports  of  the  anniversary 
exercises  of  Le  Moyne  Institute,  with  accom- 
panying editorial  commendations  and  apprecia- 
tions, from  one  of  which  we  quote :  — 

The  feeling  in  the  city  in  favor  of  universal  educa- 
tion was  never  stronger  than  it  is  now.  This  is  plainly 
shown  by  the  interest  everywhere  manifested  in  the 
Le  Moyne  Institute  for  negroes  which  gave  so  enjoy- 
able an  entertainment  Monday  night.  A  number  of 
prominent  citizens  who  were  present  expressed  the 
greatest  surprise  and  astonishment,  and  the  opinion  was 
general  that  the  inculcation  of  ideas  such  as  those  of 
which  the  graduates  seemed  possessed  was  bound  to 
do  good  to  them  and  by  reflection  upon  the  whole 
community. 

Said  an  old  planter,  "  I  attended  the  exhibition 
out  of  pure  curiosity,  never  dreaming  that  it 
would  impress  me  as  it  has  done.    I  have  always 

220 


WELCOME   AND   UNWELCOME 

scouted  the  idea  of  negro  education,  and  I  may 
say  I  have  been  its  enemy.  I  am  perfectly  will- 
ing to  give  way  now,  however."  These  were 
common  sentiments  among  the  better  class  of 
Southern  people  twenty  years  after  our  work 
began  in  all  the  states. 

Nor  must  we  fail  to  recognize  at  this  period 
the  noble  impulse  given  to  this  friendly  Southern 
sentiment,  and  the  truly  Christian  sympathy 
given  to  "  our  brother  in  black  "  and  those  who 
were  seeking  the  education  and  elevation  of  the 
children  of  the  freedmen  in  the  person  and  work 
of  the  Rev.  A.  G.  Haygood,  d.d.  A  gallant  ex- 
Confederate  soldier,  —  a  Southerner  by  birth  and 
breeding,  and  the  son  of  a  slaveholder,  brought 
up  in  the  wealthy  planting  section  of  Georgia,  — 
he  entered  upon  his,  at  first,  self-appointed  task 
in  behalf  of  negro  education  as  a  mere  private, 
a  volunteer  in  the  ranks  where  he  found  so  many 
noble  workers.  But  his  knowledge  of  the  negro, 
of  his  capacity  and  his  needs,  and  the  best  methods 
of  reaching  practical  educational  results,  soon 
marked  him  for  the  high  position  to  which  he  was 
called  as  the  trusted  confidential  agent  of  the 
Slater  Fund,  bequeathed  by  a  benevolent  man  of 
Connecticut.  Already  in  the  first  year  of  the 
fund  this  good,  strong  man  found  himself  plead- 
ing on  every  possible  occasion  for  the  practical 

221 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

system  of  education  so  long  pursued  by  The 
American  Missionary  Association.  Like  all 
prophets,  Dr.  Haygood  was  far  in  advance  of  his 
time,  but  he  did  not  fail  to  find  within  the  hearts 
of  thoughtful  Southern  people  a  sense  of  brother- 
hood with  the  lowly  ones  of  another  race  and  a 
desire  to  do  justly  by  them.  His  visits  to  the 
schools  of  the  Association  carried  with  them 
hope  to  the  pupils  who  were  struggling  up,  and 
his  addresses  were  full  of  Christian  teaching  and 
human  sympathy.  Professors  and  teachers  alike 
greeted  his  presence  as  that  of  a  forerunner  who 
brought  the  assurance  that  the  morning  of  the 
day  had  come  when  the  North  and  South  should 
see  eye  to  eye  and  should  be  found  in  emulation 
and  in  happy  cooperation  to  solve  the  hard  prob- 
lem which  was  the  inheritance  of  slavery  and  for 
which  North  and  South  were  both  responsible. 
"  The  negroes,"  said  Dr.  Haygood,  "  need  edu- 
cated Christianity,  and  they  must  have  Christian- 
ized education  to  get  it.  This  the  state  does  not 
give,  and  cannot  give.  To  achieve  this  most  de- 
sirable and  necessary  result  the  schoolhouse  and 
the  church  must  work  together.  There  must  be 
Bibles  in  the  schools  that  are  to  train  teachers 
among  this  people,  and  there  must  be  Christian 
men  and  women  in  them  who  both  teach  and  prac- 
tice  religion.     Your  Association   is   doing  this 

222 


WELCOME   AND   UNWELCOME 

most  necessary  work  on  a  very  broad  scale.  You 
are  raising  up  in  these  schools  men  and  women 
who  can  teach  and  who  must  teach  the  children 
of  their  people.  I  say  '  must,'  for  Christianized 
education  must  by  its  instruction  and  directing 
impulses  perpetuate  and  diffuse  itself."  "  This 
problem,"  continued  Dr.  Haygood,  "  cannot  be 
solved  by  legislation.  It  must  be  Christian 
schools  and  the  Church  of  God." 

That  was  a  great  heart  as  well  as  a  wise  head 
which  a  quarter  of  a  century  ago,  when  memories 
of  the  bitter  conflict  were  so  fresh  and  the  diffi- 
culties of  brotherhood  were  so  many,  could  quote 
from  the  platform  of  an  antislavery  society  the 
words  of  a  great  leader  in  antislavery  days,  Dr. 
Leonard  Bacon,  of  New  Haven,  and,  endorsing 
them,  say :  — 

One  word  concerning  the  future  of  the  Society; 
that  word  is  conciliation,  conciliation  by  meekness,  by 
love,  by  patient  continuance  in  well  doing.  The  field 
is  wide  open  for  schools  and  for  the  preaching  of  the 
gospel  —  two  great  forces  operating  as  one  for  funda- 
mental reconstruction.  In  both  these  lines  of  effort 
the  work  of  conciliation,  conciliation  of  the  South  to 
the  North,  and  to  the  restored  and  beneficent  Union; 
conciliation  of  the  races  to  each  other,  white  to  black 
and  black  to  white;  conciliation  of  contending  sects 
opposed  with  traditional  bigotries  to  the  simplicity  of 
the  truth  as  it  is  in  Christ  Jesus. 

223 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

"  Thomas  Jefferson,"  added  Dr.  Haygood„ 
"  who  in  1782  said  that  the  two  races  equally  free 
cannot  live  in  the  same  government  was  not  a 
prophet.  Leonard  Bacon  was.  But  this  work 
of  fundamental  reconstruction  is  a  slow  process. 
It  will  take  generations.  Lifting  up  a  nation  or 
a  race  is  a  slow  process.  Wherefore,  the  great- 
est necessity  for  wisdom  and  patience  in  your 
work.  Certainly  you  find  more  sympathy  and 
more  of  the  spirit  of  cooperation  than  you  found 
ten  years  ago.  You  have  learned  your  work 
better,  and  we  of  the  South  have  learned  perfectly 
its  value.  Your  methods  are  good.  They  are 
yielding  happy  results." 

These  were  the  gracious,  grateful  words  of  a 
Christian  patriot,  a  large-minded,  great-hearted, 
and  whole-souled  man.  Would  that  he  might 
have  lived  on !  for  such  men  were  few,  and  soon 
were  more  needed  than  ever.  What  a  difference 
there  would  have  been  for  the  honor  of  the  state 
he  loved  so  well,  for  the  honor  of  the  nation  which 
held  his  greater  love,  could  such  a  presence  and 
such  a  voice  represent  both  his  state  and  nation 
in  the  United  States  Senate  with  his  pleadings 
for  reverence  of  law,  and  for  justice  and  mercy 
to  "  our  brother  in  black,"  in  place  of  the  utter- 
ances of  hate  and  bitterness  which  we  are  now 
humbled  to  hear ! 

224 


WELCOME   AND   UNWELCOME 

But  the  progress  of  mankind  in  its  moral  evo- 
lution does  not  come  to  its  fruitage  with  the  first 
blossoming  of  promise.  This  kindly  appreciation 
and  the  generous  expression  of  it  was  the  very 
thing  to  stir  prejudices  anew  and  reexcite  the 
oppositions  of  those  who  objected  to  the  elevation 
of  the  negro.  With  the  realizations  of  advance- 
ment and  the  possibilities  of  intellectual  strength 
came  a  mighty  wave  of  reaction  on  the  part  of 
lesser  minds  and  lesser  souls  always  everywhere 
in  the  majority.  It  was  at  this  time  that  our 
records  abound  in  allusions  to  the  "  infamous 
Glenn  bill "  in  the  legislature  of  Georgia,  when 
the  agitation  began  which  removed  Southern  sup- 
port from  Atlanta  University,  and  which  in  due 
time  reached  the  legislatures  of  other  states,  and 
deprived  other  institutions  of  the  cooperation 
which  their  good  results  had  previously  secured. 

There  had  been  no  change  in  the  kindly  meth- 
ods and  good-will  of  the  Association.  The  re- 
action was  indeed  the  natural  result  of  its  suc- 
cesses, the  constitution  of  the  public  in  the  South 
being  what  it  was.  The  class  that  "  see  not  and 
hear  not,  neither  understand,"  but  who  have 
votes,  often  bring  discouragements  and  disap- 
pointments, and  make  the  progress  of  others 
apparently  slow  and  fitful.  In  this  reaction 
the  two  civilizations  which  in  the  Civil  War 
15  225 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

had  their  struggle  for  mastery  came  once  more 
into  view. 

That  for  which  the  Association  stood  in  1846, 
which  it  had  unswervingly  maintained,  and  which 
has  never  been  reversed,  whether  or  not  it  has 
always  been  able  to  hold  it  against  specific  trans- 
gressions, is  based  upon  righteousness.  Its  chief 
doctrine  next  to  the  obligations  which  find  their 
supreme  expression  in  the  love  and  holiness  of 
God  is  the  brotherhood  of  man.  This  asks  for 
equality  of  rights,  for  justice  in  all  human  rela- 
tions ;  freedom  for  every  soul  to  work  out  all  that 
is  possible  in  the  way  of  human  good  and  achieve- 
ment. It  especially  calls  for  the  elevation  of  the 
moral,  intellectual,  and  spiritual  in  man  to  the 
supreme  place. 

The  other  civilization,  built  on  force,  has  its 
doctrine  of  inferiority  and  superiority.  It 
stratifies  humanity:  the  weaker  must  serve  the 
stronger.  Might  shall  be  the  equivalent  for  right. 
This  civilization,  if  it  is  worthy  of  such  a  name, 
flies  in  the  face  of  the  teachings  of  our  Lord,  who 
said,  "  Ye  know  that  they  who  are  accounted 
to  rule  over  the  Gentiles  lord  it  over  them;  and 
their  great  ones  exercise  authority  over  them. 
But  it  is  not  so  among  you:  but  whosoever 
would  become  great  among  you,  shall  be  your 
minister;    and  whosoever  would  be  first  among 

226 


WELCOME   AND   UNWELCOME 

you,  shall  be  servant  of  all."  This  civilization 
of  force,  often  dominant  among  imperfectly  de- 
veloped peoples  like  the  ignorant  masses  of  the 
South,  creates  burdens  grievous  to  be  borne 
by  those  better  and  wiser  souls  whose  lot  is 
cast  in  locations  where  appeals  can  be  made  to 
prejudice  and  to  passion.  Confounding  power 
with  right,  the  civilization  built  on  force  may 
be  dominant  for  a  time,  but  it  will  pass  away. 
The  lower  will  give  way  to  the  higher  in  our 
country.  The  civilization  of  Christ  will  be  the 
final  one.  Through  what  experiences  this  shall 
come  to  pass  no  one  can  foretell.  Otherwise 
the  nation  must  fall  into  the  long  procession  of 
those  that  have  already  proved  their  falsity  to 
God  in  their  dishonor  and  destruction.  The  duty 
remains  for  all  who  wear  the  name  of  Christ  to 
stand  by  and  for  his  teaching,  without  wavering. 
This  civilization  of  force  as  it  began  to  realize 
the  development  of  latent  power  in  the  graduates 
of  higher  institutions  of  learning  and  their  aspi- 
rations for  the  privileges  and  duties  that  a  sense 
of  true  manhood  brings,  started  the  agitation 
against  schools  with  the  taking  motto,  "  Teach 
the  negro  to  work,"  the  underlying  interpreta- 
tion of  which  was,  teach  the  negro  nothing  but 
work.  Out  of  this  attitude  of  a  feeling  and  pur- 
pose which  overrode  the  real  wisdom  of  nobler 

227 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

thought  in  the  South  came  the  necessity  for  the 
Association  to  proclaim  anew  its  principles  and 
restate  its  reasons  for  them.  We  were  not,  as  it 
was  charged,  seeking  to  change  or  regulate  so- 
ciety anywhere.  We  were  not  called  to  do  this. 
Our  distinct  work  was  and  is  to  bring  in  the  king- 
dom of  heaven  in  the  spirit  of  the  gospel  and  to 
inculcate  the  principles  of  that  kingdom,  a  king- 
dom of  faith  in  God  and  good-will  to  man. 

Perhaps  it  was  out  of  this  atmosphere  of  re- 
newed discussion  that  the  agitation  of  the  "  color 
line  "  in  churches  grew.  Here  again  the  Asso- 
ciation had  no  disposition  to  agitate  questions 
which  excited  the  prejudices  of  the  Southern 
people;  far  from  it.  It  had  no  wish  or  purpose 
to  force  the  races  together  in  any  relation;  but 
in  church  work,  under  the  care  of  the  Associa- 
tion, it  was  only  consistent  to  maintain  that  a 
Christian  church  ought  to  stand  ready  to  fellow- 
ship any  one  of  any  race  whom  Christ  fellow- 
ships, and  that  it  should  turn  no  one  away  from 
its  communion  because  of  his  race  or  color,  or 
because  his  father  or  his  mother  had  been  a  slave. 
The  Association  stoutly  maintained  that  there 
was  no  reason  which  would  meet  the  teachings 
of  Christ,  why  there  should  be  entire  state  or  local 
organizations  of  churches  which  refused  to  fel- 
lowship churches  the  membership  of  which  dif- 

228 


WELCOME  AND  UNWELCOME 

fered  in  race.  The  Association  could  not  be  true 
to  its  history,  or  true  to  its  convictions,  or  suc- 
cessfully face  the  bitter  prejudices  of  Jew  and 
Gentile  with  the  broad  invitation,  "  Whosoever 
will,  may  come,"  and  accept  any  less  interpre- 
tation of  Christianity.  The  churches  planted, 
and  in  most  cases  partly  sustained,  as  missionary 
churches  by  the  Association,  appealed  to  it  to 
stand  by  them  in  their  cry  for  this  recognition  of 
Christian  manhood. 

This  accounts  for  the  reconsideration  and  dis- 
cussions of  the  question  of  caste  to  which  much 
attention  is  given  in  our  records  of  this  period. 
Dr.  Strieby  pleaded  against  it  with  all  his  soul. 
From  his  heart  came  the  words :  "  The  Associa- 
tion was  born  an  opponent  of  slavery.  Amid 
poverty,  sneers,  and  reproaches  from  the  best  of 
men  as  well  as  from  the  worst  of  men,  it  pressed 
forward  in  its  opposition  till  the  glorious  end 
came.  It  must  oppose  caste  as  it  did  slavery.  It 
began  its  work  as  the  avowed  enemy  of  caste. 
Caste  prejudice  is  sin.  It  hinders  the  progress 
of  its  victims.  It  shuts  up  the  avenues  of  trades, 
professions,  schools,  and  churches  through  which 
alone  those  who  have  been  emancipated  from 
slavery  can  escape  from  ignorance  and  degrada- 
tion. If  they  rise  it  must  be  in  spite  of  all  the 
obstacles  that  caste  can  throw  in  their  way.    Here 

229 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

is  a  call  for  an  appeal  to  conscience."  Dr.  Strieby 
never  questioned  for  a  moment  that  the  power 
of  the  living  God  which  had  destroyed  slavery 
would  be  the  one  power  in  the  land  that  would 
finally  be  irresistible.  He  was  absolutely  sure 
that  the  barriers  of  caste  would  eventually  go 
down  before  that  power. 

At  the  same  time,  there  was  no  failure  to  draw 
the  line  sharply  between  caste  and  social  distinc- 
tions. The  cry  for  social  equality  had  become 
a  battle-cry.  The  Association  insisted  that  caste 
and  social  distinctions  are  by  no  means  identical. 
They  rest  on  different  principles.  Companionship 
has  its  own  qualifications.  Social  distinctions  will 
take  care  of  themselves.  We  have  no  mission  to 
prevent  the  existence  of  classes  in  society.  Classes 
will  doubtless  always  exist,  here  and  hereafter. 
Companionship  is  one  thing,  but  caste  is  another. 
It  means  special  class  privilege.  It  excludes 
people  from  common  rights  and  privileges.  It 
degrades  people  on  the  ground  of  race  or  color. 
It  denies  equal  rights,  civil,  political,  and  reli- 
gious. It  is  seen  in  its  worst  forms  when  it  has 
the  consent  of  Christian  gatherings,  and  when 
it  appears  in  religious  bodies.  Christ,  who  linked 
his  life  to  the  lowly,  had  his  sympathetic  com- 
panionships, but  the  spirit  of  caste  never  was  his. 
Those  who  wear  his  name  decline  his  spirit  when 

230 


WELCOME   AND   UNWELCOME 

they  proclaim  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  refuse 
the  brotherhood  of  man.  In  his  name  the  Asso- 
ciation has  always  protested  —  and,  please  God, 
always  will  protest  —  against  imposing  on  a  race 
the  weight  of  an  impassable  caste,  so  that  an  es- 
tablished ruling  class  shall  direct  a  permanent 
serving  class,  or  that  Christians  of  one  race  shall 
deny  fellowship  to  that  of  another. 

But  while  these  contentions  for  principles  were 
going  on  the  work  was  also  going  on.  The  Asso- 
ciation in  its  annual  reports  appears  to  have  had 
a  reminiscent  tendency.  It  loved  to  look  back- 
ward, but  in  no  sense  did  it  ever  live  retrospec- 
tively. If  it  took  frequent  occasions  to  review  the 
past  it  was  only  to  gain  fresh  courage  and  purpose 
for  the  future.  It  seems  to  have  been  practically 
quoting  the  song  of  the  Psalmist  when  he  said, 
"  The  Lord  hath  been  mindful  of  us ;  he  will 
bless  us."  The  past  was  the  pledge  and  the  ear- 
nest of  the  time  to  come.  One  of  its  backward 
glances  at  this  period  brought  out  the  fact  that 
up  to  this  time  not  less  than  three  thousand  differ- 
ent missionary  laborers  had  been  enlisted  in  the 
service  of  the  Association,  and  that  fully  two 
thousand  of  them  had  been  women.  What  a 
multitude  of  gospelers  for  two  decades!  It  was 
found  also  that  the  time  when  the  number  of  the 
missionary  workers  ran  highest  was  the  Ku  Klux 

231 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

period,  when  the  brave  women  could  stand  in 
places  where  men  could  not  live. 

It  is  well  to  remember  how  in  Mississippi  at 
midnight  one  of  these  heroines  was  waited  on  by 
a  Ku  Klux  company  in  masks  and  gowns.  After 
a  hasty  robing  she  was  obliged  to  open  the  door. 

The  ruffian  crew  were  abashed  and  ashamed 
as  their  leader  exclaimed  in  surprise,  "  Why,  you 
are  a  lady !  "  They  could  offer  no  harm  to  a 
defenseless  lady,  but  they  gave  her  twenty-four 
hours  in  which  to  leave,  notifying  her  that  they 
would  be  around  to  see  that  she  had  obeyed. 
"  Low  down  fellows,"  the  citizens  said.  "  No," 
she  replied,  "  such  men  don't  wear  fine  top-boots 
and  have  an  address  like  theirs."  The  lone 
woman  surrendered  to  their  demands  for  her 
departure,  saying  that  she  scorned  to  tell  them 
that  though  she  was  an  Illinois  girl  she  was  the 
granddaughter  of  Rev.  Dr.  Allen,  of  Huntsville, 
Alabama.  Another  woman's  school  at  Austin, 
Texas,  was  broken  into  by  roughs.  Then  the  post 
commander  sent  a  guard  to  stand  by  day  at  her 
school  door  and  escort  her  home  at  night  and 
back  to  her  school  in  the  morning.  She  held  her 
post.  At  another  place  in  Alabama  the  Ku  Klux 
Klan  drew  up  in  line  before  the  lady  teacher's 
castle  of  a  schoolroom,  and  fired  a  volley  of  beans 
and  shot  through  her  windows  on  each  side  of 

232 


WELCOME   AND   UNWELCOME 

the  chair  where  she  was  sitting.  This  delicate, 
fearless  principal,  graduate  of  Mount  Holyoke, 
did  not  run  away,  but  remained,  developing  a 
flourishing  school  for  more  than  a  score  of  years 
until  age  forbade  her  to  teach  longer.  Another, 
having  her  school  in  North  Carolina  in  an  old 
Confederate  gun  factory,  when  a  man  offered  to 
be  one  of  twenty  to  put  her  on  the  cars  by  force 
if  necessary,  and  send  her  away,  said,  "  I  was 
sent  by  The  American  Missionary  Association, 
and  when  that  says  '  Go,'  I  will,  and  not  before." 
She  also  remained  for  many  years  and  never  lost 
her  courage. 

These  are  not  exceptional  illustrations  of  the 
greatness  of  heart  and  devotion  to  service  whose 
records  are  in  the  unprinted  annals  of  the  As- 
sociation. They  went  as  missionaries  to  en- 
lighten the  ignorant,  to  lift  up  the  needy,  to 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  to  bring  them  all 
to  Christ,  quietly,  patiently,  lovingly,  and  stead- 
ily, as  they  had  a  right  to  do,  and  as  they  felt 
it  their  duty  to  do,  —  young  women  of  education, 
of  refinement  and  culture,  —  nobly  they  fulfilled 
their  mission. 

No  words  of  appreciation  could  unduly  ex- 
press their  worthiness.  A  colored  man,  an  emi- 
nent type  of  his  race,  from  a  sense  of  good  re- 
ceived, wrote  in  his  eloquent  tribute  to  them :  — 

233 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

A  worthier  band  has  never  furnished  theme  or  song 
for  sage  or  bard.  These  noble  women  left  homes, 
their  friends,  their  social  ties,  and  all  that  they  held 
dear,  to  go  to  the  far  South  to  labor  among  the  re- 
cently emancipated  slaves.  Their  courage,  their  self- 
sacrificing  devotion,  sincerity  of  purpose,  and  purity 
of  motive,  and  their  unshaken  faith  in  God  were  their 
pass  keys  to  the  hearts  of  those  for  whom  they  came 
to  labor.  They  were  sustained  by  an  unbounded  en- 
thusiasm and  zeal  amounting  almost  to  fanaticism. 
No  mercenary  or  sordid  motive  attaches  to  their  fair 
names.  They  gave  the  highest  proof  that  the  nine- 
teenth century,  at  least,  has  afforded,  that  Christianity 
has  not  yet  degenerated  into  a  dead  formula  and 
barren  intellectualism,  but  it  is  a  living,  vital  power. 
Their  works  do  follow  them.  What  colored  man  is 
there  in  all  this  land  who  has  not  felt  the  uplifting 
effect  of  their  labors?  Their  monument  is  builded 
in  the  hopes  of  a  race  struggling  upward  from  igno- 
rance to  enlightenment,  from  corruption  to  purity  of 
life.  These  are  they  who  sowed  the  seed  of  intelli- 
gence in  the  soil  of  ignorance,  and  planted  the  rose  of 
virtue  in  the  garden  of  dishonor  and  shame.  It  is 
said  that  gratitude  is  the  fairest  flower  which  sheds 
its  perfume  in  the  human  heart.  As  long  as  the  human 
heart  beats  in  grateful  response  to  benefits  received, 
these  women  shall  not  want  a  monument  of  living 
ebony  and  bronze. 

"  Those  women  which  labored  with  me  in  the 
gospel,"  said  the  apostle,  "  with  other  my  fellow 
laborers  whose  names  are  in  the  book  of  life." 

234 


XII 
NEW  FIELDS  AND  OLD 


Bureau  of  Woman's  Work.  —  Educational  and  evan- 
gelistic work  in  the  hill-country  of  Kentucky. — Williams- 
burg School  and  Church.  —  Anti-caste  pledges  given.  — 
An  exciting  incident.  —  Church  organized  at  Williams- 
burg. —  Northern  capital  in  Southern  mountains.  — 
Magic  towns  and  great  promises  for  future  commercial 
centers.  —  Colored  schools  and  institutions  pleading  for 
expansion.  —  Church  extension.  —  Concentration  as  a 
policy.  —  Death  of  District  Secretary  G.  D.  Pike.  — 
Death  of  Rev.  E.  A.  Ware,  President  of  Atlanta  Univer- 
sity. —  Death  of  Corresponding  Secretary  James  Powell, 
d.d.  —  An  earnest  life. 


XII 

NEW    FIELDS    AND    OLD 

IN  1883,  with  a  view  to  some  partial  recog- 
nition of  the  large  share  which  educated 
Christian  women  had  in  this  work  from  the 
beginning  at  Hampton,  Virginia,  the  Bureau  of 
Woman's  Work  had  been  organized.  Its  main 
purpose  was  to  give  Christian  women  fuller  in- 
formation as  to  ways  of  cooperation  on  their 
part,  and  to  assist  in  devising  plans  for  help;  to 
promote  correspondence  with  Sunday-schools 
and  missionary  societies  which  might  wish  to 
undertake  work  of  a  special  character ;  in  short, 
to  further  missionary  interests  among  women  in 
such  ways  as  might  present  themselves.  Miss 
D.  E.  Emerson,  who  had  had  large  experience 
as  a  teacher  in  the  field,  and  who  subsequently 
was  the  efficient  assistant  of  the  corresponding 
secretary,  was  appointed  to  this  work. 

It  was  at  this  time,  also,  that  particular  atten- 
tion was  called  to  the  pitiable  condition  of  much 
of  the  mountain  country  inhabited  largely  by  peo- 
ple of  European  descent  who  in  the  movements 
of  civilization  had  been  passed  by  and  whose  in- 

237 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

tellectual,   spiritual,   and   material   poverty   pre- 
sented a  strong  appeal  to  Christian  sympathy. 

The  popular  impression  was  that  the  Associa- 
tion was  particularly  organized  to  labor  among 
people  with  dark  skins.  Quite  otherwise,  its  mis- 
sion was  to  do  Christian  work  among  the  needy 
without  reference  to  race  distinctions,  its  special 
inspiration  being  to  carry  on  this  without  com- 
plicity with  slavery  and  without  the  prejudices 
begotten  of  slavery.  It  made,  and  makes,  dis- 
tinct appeals  for  peoples  of  different  races  only 
as  a  convenient  classification.  Its  thought 
towards  all  is  that  of  a  common  humanity  —  to 
remember  the  bond  of  brotherhood,  and  the  de- 
mand for  Christian  help. 

In  view  of  the  deplorable  ignorance  and  the 
evils  flowing  from  this  among  the  mountain  peo- 
ple, a  special  fund  in  1884  was  asked  for  "  to 
carry  on  educational  and  evangelistic  work  in  the 
mountain  regions  of  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  and 
the  adjacent  states." 

A  special  missionary  in  the  service  of  the  As- 
sociation reported  Williamsburg,  Kentucky,  as  a 
place  of  special  need  where  a  Christian  school  on 
an  anti-caste  basis  could  be  planted  with  great 
benefit  to  a  large  and  surrounding  region  in  great 
destitution.  The  town  was  sixty-seven  years  old, 
yet  it  had  never  had  a  church  edifice;   nor  had 

238 


NEW   FIELDS   AND   OLD 

the  county  with  a  population  of  fourteen  thou- 
sand ever  had  a  church  edifice  finished  and  dedi- 
cated to  the  worship  of  God.  There  were  few 
schools  in  the  country  around,  and  what  there 
were  could  not  be  considered  as  worthy  of  the 
name.  In  Williamsburg  a  tasteful  church  was 
erected.  An  academy  building  followed,  and  able 
and  experienced  teachers  were  put  in  charge. 
When  it  came  time  for  these  two  buildings  to  be 
dedicated,  the  executive  committee  was  repre- 
sented by  Dr.  William  Hayes  Ward,  and  the  As^ 
sociation  also  by  Secretary  Powell  and  Superin- 
tendent Roy.  The  church  and  school  were  dedi- 
cated to  the  service  of  God  for  the  maintenance 
and  spread  of  a  free  gospel  and  Christian  educa- 
tion. Special  emphasis  was  placed  upon  the  fact 
that  over  the  entrance  to  these  edifices  was  writ- 
ten, "  Whosoever  will  may  come."  This  was 
emphasized  because  in  a  country  where  popular 
sentiment  might  otherwise  close  the  doors  to 
some  upon  a  caste  theory,  it  was  felt  that  silence 
regarding  that  wrong  would  itself  be  wrong.  The 
principles  upon  which  the  mission  of  the  Associ- 
ation rested,  and  upon  which  it  had  entered  the 
mountain  country  with  its  funds  for  the  support 
of  its  institutions  were  made  prominent  at  the 
dedication. 

The  school  soon  was  crowded  with  pupils  eager 
239 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

to  receive  its  privileges.  But  suddenly  a  cloud 
the  size  of  the  face  of  a  colored  child  was  suffi- 
cient to  shut  out  the  light  of  the  Dayspring  from 
on  high.  A  lad  with  a  dark  skin  asked  for  ad- 
mittance. Letters  came  to  New  York  with  re- 
monstrances. It  would  never  do.  Could  the 
Association  have  meant  what  it  said  at  the  dedi- 
cation, or  was  it  simply  hypocrisy  and  a  pious 
fraud?  The  answer  of  the  Association  flew  as 
fast  as  lightning  could  travel,  "  Admit  all  appli- 
cants irrespective  of  color"  There  was  no  time- 
serving about  that  telegram.  It  was  simple  hon- 
esty; and  when  other  tests  of  the  sincerity  and 
truthfulness  of  its  principles  arise  there  are  but 
two  ways  to  meet  them ;  either  fairly  and  openly 
to  disown  the  principles  and  relegate  them  to 
the  receptacles  of  errors  which  once  passed  for 
truth,  or  to  honestly  live  up  to  them.  To  claim 
to  hold  them,  and  yet  to  disown  them,  is  not 
Christian. 

Following  the  dedication  of  a  church  and  school 
at  Williamsburg,  several  churches  in  that  general 
region  were  erected.  If  they  have  not  been  alto- 
gether successful,  perhaps  a  sufficient  reason  may 
be  found  in  the  lack  of  members.  The  safe  way 
to  develop  churches  is  to  secure  at  least  a  nucleus 
of  earnest,  devoted  Christians  who  are  willing  to 
sacrifice  for  a  church  and  to  stand  by  it  in  its 

240 


NEW   FIELDS   AND   OLD 

struggles.  To  erect  church  buildings  without 
this  essential  is  to  have  a  body  without  a  soul. 
Where  the  conditions  of  success  existed  the 
churches  have  lived  and  are  living. 

The  attention  given  to  the  development  of 
schools  and  churches  in  the  Southern  mountains 
became  quite  a  distinctive  feature.  As  the  rail- 
ways pushed  through  the  gaps  of  the  mighty 
mountain  wall,  which  has  so  long  fronted  the 
forces  of  modern  progress,  Northern  capital  had 
eagerly  entered  to  develop  the  hidden  wealth  of 
the  hills  in  coal,  iron,  and  timber.  The  people 
who  had  long  been  passed  by,  and  who  remained 
in  this  new  period  in  their  history  as  poor  as  they 
had  ever  been,  yet  began  to  realize  some  of  the 
reasons  for  their  backward  conditions.  The 
schools  and  churches  introduced  by  the  Associa- 
tion were  no  small  foundations  for  the  new  hopes 
and  new  life  that  had  to  some  degree  been  awak- 
ened by  the  recent  commercial  activities.  But 
here  also  great  caution  and  wisdom  were  needed 
against  new  enterprises  which  were  exploited  by 
prospectors  and  promoters  without  substantial 
basis.  Towns  and  cities  were  to  spring  into  being 
and  importance,  —  and  did  so  on  paper,  —  and 
all  of  them  were  calling  for  churches,  and  many 
of  them  for  "  colleges."  To  go  slowly  when 
magic  towns  were  clamoring  for  immediate  action 
16  241 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

was  often  felt,  by  those  excited  by  extraordinary 
and  exaggerated  promises,  to  be  insufficiently 
sympathetic  with  the  pressing  demands  of  the 
hour,  but  as  the  years  passed  on  and  the  syndi- 
cates collapsed,  and  the  places  that  were  certain 
to  become  great  commercial  centers  did  not  even- 
tuate, the  careful  regard  for  such  churches  and 
schools  as  had  reason  for  continued  existence  be- 
came justified.  The  Association  was  not  obliged 
to  retreat  from  unfortunate  experiments. 

Meanwhile  the  institutions  founded  particu- 
larly for  negro  people  were  reported  year  by  year 
to  the  benevolent  people  who  were  sustaining 
them.  Berea,  Hampton,  Fisk,  Atlanta,  Talla- 
dega, Tougaloo,  Straight,  and,  last,  Tillotson 
were  each  asking  for  more  room  and  larger  facil- 
ities. The  institutions  classed  as  "  Normal " 
were  Avery  at  Charleston,  Le  Moyne  at  Mem- 
phis, Gregory  at  Wilmington,  Lewis  at  Macon, 
Emerson  at  Mobile,  Beach  at  Savannah,  Lexing- 
ton in  Kentucky,  Storrs  at  Atlanta,  Trinity  at 
Athens,  Alabama,  Warner  at  Jonesboro,  Brewer 
at  Greenwood,  South  Carolina,  Dorchester  at  Mc- 
intosh, and  Burrell  at  Selma.  Williamsburg  in 
Kentucky  was  the  sole  school  in  the  mountain 
country  which  had  attained  to  this  classification. 
Ten  schools  classified  as  Normal,  founded  and  for 
some  years  maintained  by  the  Association,  were 

242 


NEW  FIELDS   AND   OLD 

no  longer  on  its  rolls.  Seven  of  them  were  sold 
to  boards  of  education  in  the  cities  in  which  they 
were  located  and  were  continued  under  their 
auspices.  Three  had  been  closed  from  lack  of 
funds  to  properly  maintain  them. 

Twenty-five  years  had  gone  into  our  history 
when  the  Association  reported  under  its  care  in 
the  South  one  hundred  and  twelve  churches  with 
eighty-nine  pastors,  thirty  of  whom  were  white 
and  from  the  North.  The  transitional  move- 
ments of  the  colored  people  often  made  it  neces- 
sary also  to  take  from  the  rolls  in  view  of  their 
unpromising  conditions  the  lifeless  churches 
which  began  with  hopefulness  and  which  had 
lost  their  membership.  This  could  not  be  pre- 
vented and  could  not  always  be  explained.  Some- 
times it  seemed  to  constituents  that  this  exceed- 
ingly important  part  of  missionary  service  pro- 
ceeded slowly.  It  did,  and  necessarily,  yet  the 
gain  which  was  steady  was  actual,  and  the 
churches  which  really  stood  for  their  name  com- 
pared well  with  young  churches  in  the  West. 
Several  had  come  into  independent  self-support; 
these,  usually,  where  our  schools  had  made  this 
possible.  At  the  same  time  it  came  to  be  under- 
stood more  fully  by  those  intelligently  interested 
in  the  Association,  that  the  distinction  between 
school  work  and  church  work  differed  more  in 

243 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

name  and  form  than  it  did  in  reality.  The  su- 
preme thought  of  each  was  to  bring  souls  to 
Christ  and  to  educate  for  Christ,  and  the  schools 
were  doing  much  work  usually  done  in  other  than 
missionary  churches.  The  influence  of  the  daily 
Biblical  and  ethical  teaching  upon  young  people, 
and  the  organized  meetings  for  prayer  and  wor- 
ship under  the  leading  and  example  of  conse- 
crated teachers  was  most  fruitful  for  the  ultimate 
evangelism  of  the  colored  people. 

The  specific  theological  departments,  which 
existed  in  all  our  chartered  institutions,  had 
proved  to  be  a  gracious  and  successful  agency  in 
sending  forth  a  more  capable  and  more  worthy 
ministry  into  other  communions  as  well  as  our 
own.  So  far  it  appears  to  have  been  a  good  part 
of  our  mission  to  leaven  with  our  teaching  and 
to  help  churches  which  sadly  needed  aid,  all  of 
which  did  not  count  in  our  denominational  sta- 
tistics, rather  than  to  multiply  churches  which 
should  wear  our  name  but  not  show  forth  our 
principles  or  our  character.  Our  most  permanent 
successes  for  churches  were  where  we  were  suc- 
cessful in  laboring  to  displace  ignorance  with 
intelligence  in  our  schools.  Churches  could  have 
been  planted  more  rapidly  if  the  Association 
would  have  yielded  to  the  temptation  to  plant  and 
support  them  for  the  name  of  it.     Come-outers 

244 


NEW   FIELDS   AND   OLD 

from  other  denominations,  where  there  had  been 
church  difficulties,  with  uneducated  and  self- 
elected  preachers,  often  turned  to  the  Association, 
ready  to  take  our  denominational  name  as  soon 
as  they  could  successfully  pronounce  it.  En- 
gaged, however,  as  we  were  in  a  serious  effort  to 
reconstruct  the  religious  life  of  a  people,  the  Asso- 
ciation, while  steadily  seeking  to  build  good  foun- 
dations against  the  time  to  come,  has  felt  it  a 
duty  to  guard  against  hopeless  expenditures 
which  did  not  promise  permanence  and  purity. 

The  Association  had  largely  centralized  its 
educational  work  in  six  chartered  higher  insti- 
tutions and  in  fourteen  normal  and  graded 
schools.  Its  rural  common  schools  numbered 
thirty-six.  The  pupils  in  these  Southern  schools 
totaled  eight  thousand  eight  hundred  and  twenty- 
three. 

The  year  1885  was  marked  by  particular  be- 
reavement in  the  death  of  Dr.  G.  D.  Pike,  a  long 
time  District  Secretary,  well  known  and  wel- 
comed in  the  churches  which  he  was  wont  to  visit 
with  the  tidings  from  the  fields  at  home  and  from 
Africa.  Dr.  Pike  was  a  man  of  vigorous  intel- 
lect, strong  faith,  and  undivided  devotion.  At 
the  age  of  fifty-four  years  he  had  put  the  best 
part  of  an  earnest  life  into  the  service  for  the 
people  emancipated  from  slavery. 

24S 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

In  this  same  year  the  Rev.  E.  A.  Ware,  Presi- 
dent of  Atlanta  University,  was  suddenly  stricken 
down  by  disease  of  the  heart  in  his  forty-eighth 
year.  President  Ware  was  graduated  from  Yale 
College  in  1863,  and  began  his  work  in  the  South 
the  year  following  the  close  of  the  war.  For  a 
full  period  of  nineteen  years  —  with  the  excep- 
tion of  a  single  year  of  rest  enforced  by  exhaus- 
tion and  physical  needs  —  he  toiled  with  signal 
devotion  in  this  chosen  field  with  most  gratifying 
and  remarkable  results.  He  was  active  in  secur- 
ing the  foundation  of  Atlanta  University  and  its 
development ;  he  witnessed  its  steady  growth  and 
prosperity  from  the  beginning.  In  consecrating 
his  mind  with  all  its  culture,  and  his  heart  with 
all  its  affectionate  strength  to  the  work  of  the 
elevation  of  the  colored  people,  President  Ware 
set  a  noble  example  of  sacrifice  for  the  cause  of 
Christ.  The  original  stamp  placed  by  him  upon 
the  University  will  long  remain  to  testify  to  his 
great  life. 

The  death  of  Rev.  James  Powell,  d.d.,  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  of  the  Association,  on  Christ- 
mas Day,  his  birthday,  in  1887,  was  deeply  felt 
and  profoundly  mourned  by  all  who  knew  him. 
Dr.  Powell  was  born  in  Wales,  December  25, 
1847.  At  an  early  age  he  came  to  this  country, 
and  partly  by  his  own  exertions  and  partly  by  the 

246 


NEW  FIELDS   AND   OLD 

help  of  friends  whom  he  had  won  to  himself  by 
his  happy  disposition  and  evident  indications  of 
exceptional  future  usefulness,  he  obtained  a  gen- 
erous education,  graduating  from  Dartmouth 
College  in  1866  and  from  Andover  Theological 
Seminary  in  1869.  He  was  immediately  settled 
as  pastor  of  the  Congregational  Church  at  New- 
buryport,  Massachusetts,  his  only  pastorate,  until 
1873,  when  he  was  appointed  District  Secretary 
of  the  Association  and  was  soon  selected  to  take 
charge  of  the  Western  Department  with  his 
office  in  Chicago.  Here  he  remained  for  nearly 
ten  years.  In  1883  he  was  elected  Assistant 
Corresponding  Secretary,  and  in  1885,  Associate 
Corresponding  Secretary  with  special  supervision 
of  the  collecting  field. 

Dr.  Powell  was  a  magnetic  orator,  brilliant  and 
persuasive.  Impassioned  and  imaginative,  he 
was  yet  characterized  by  a  cautious  judgment  and 
excellent  administrative  gifts.  His  genial  nature, 
his  warm  and  devoted  Christian  character,  won 
all  hearts.  He  was  a  prince  of  good  fellowship 
and  full  of  good  humor.  No  one  with  him  ever 
had  a  dull  hour.  One  of  the  most  companionable 
of  men,  he  carried  his  heart  on  his  sleeve.  He 
was  not  capable  of  a  mean  act.  With  strong 
convictions  he  knew  how  to  stand  firm  in  his 
sincerity. 

247 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

Moved  very  largely  by  his  urgent  and  repeated 
solicitations,  the  writer  of  this  history  became  in 
1885  officially  associated  with  him,  attracted  by 
his  generous  sympathy  and  his  missionary  zeal. 
He  was  all  that  anticipation  had  hoped  for  and 
more.  Not  old  in  years  when  he  died,  he  had  yet 
lived  a  long  life,  —  a  life  of  grand  sacrifice,  of 
patient  and  undeviating  love  for  the  oppressed, 
whose  necessities  had  become  his  own  until  he 
gave  to  them  his  life  which  Christ  had  saved. 
The  real  glory  of  his  consecration  cannot  be 
chronicled  in  these  pages,  but  the  shining  name 
in  God's  Book  of  Life  in  the  days  of  God's  remem- 
brance will  stand  out  like  a  radiant  star  in  the 
heavens.  The  influences  which  he  set  in  motion 
"  shall  like  a  river  run  and  broader  flow." 


248 


Secretary  James  Powell,  D.D. 


XIII 
EXPERIENCE  AND   JUSTIFICATION 


Financial  experiences.  —  A  new  generation  of  teachers. 

—  Conflicting  thought  of  Southern  white  people  respect- 
ing the  emancipated  race.  —  Transitional  phases  of  life 
among  the  colored  people.  —  Effect  upon  church  life  and 
stability.  —  The  great  gift  of  Daniel  Hand  of  Connecti- 
cut.— His  "  Deed  of  Trust."  —  Sketch  of  his  life.  —  Great 
enlargement  in  school  work.  —  Twenty-one  advanced 
schools  added.  —  Higher  standards  of  studies.  —  Fer- 
ment in  the  Southern  opinion  and  hostility  to  negro  prog- 
ress. —  Appeals  at  the  Annual  Meetings  of  the  Asso- 
ciation. —  Dr.  Charles  H.  Richards,  Dr.  Lyman  Abbott, 
and  others.  —  True  and   false  estimates.  —  Dr.   Strieby. 

—  Death  in  1899.  —  The  Association's  ideals  stated  by 
Rev.  C.  A.  Patton,  d.d. 


XIII 

EXPERIENCE   AND   JUSTIFICATION 

DURING  these  later  years,  when  the  work 
moved  steadily  forward,  developing  on 
permanent  foundations,  the  experiences 
which  belong  to  all  voluntary  benevolent  work 
kept  alert  those  who  were  responsible  for  its  ad- 
ministration. One  year  would  begin  with  the 
jubilation,  "  We  are  free,  all  debts  are  paid,  and 
we  start  anew  with  courage,"  and  in  another 
year,  with  the  same  management  and  care,  the 
captions  of  the  "  financial  condition  "  were  clothed 
in  deep  mourning.  Editorials  of  The  Ameri- 
can Missionary  would  be  "  cheered  by  the  gener- 
ous benevolences  which  are  reporting  them- 
selves," only  to  be  followed  by  "  great  regrets  in 
view  of  diminishing  receipts."  The  yearly  finan- 
cial reports  as  we  review  them  remind  one  of 
the  children's  seesaw  with  its  recurring  ups  and 
downs.  The  apostle  who  said,  "  I  know  both  how 
to  be  abased,  and  I  know  how  to  abound,"  little 
thought  what  a  text  of  common  and  trying  expe- 
rience he  was  uttering  for  a  missionary  society. 

251 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

It  is  the  transition  from  gladness  to  sadness  that 
tests  the  souls  of  missionary  managers.  An  even 
success,  over  which  there  is  no  call  for  special 
exultation  and  no  reason  for  disquieting  discour- 
agement, is  an  ideal  yet  to  be  realized,  but  to  be 
upon  the  Mountain  of  Transfiguration  with  heav- 
enly visions  of  the  blessed  to-day,  only  to  be  hur- 
ried down  into  the  valley  of  humiliation  to- 
morrow, with  a  strenuousness  which  is  in  painful 
contrast  to  the  hopeful  ascent,  to  find  the  sun  gone 
down  and  the  darkness  everywhere  is  a  cross 
which  is  no  easier  to  bear  because  the  experience 
is  frequent.  Nevertheless,  the  hymn  which  de- 
clares that  "  some  way  or  other  the  Lord  will 
provide  "  has  much  more  of  truth  than  poetry  to 
commend  it,  and  we  find  that  year  by  year  the 
schools  open  and  increase  in  strength,  the  teachers 
do  not  fail  to  appear,  and  do  not  fail  to  bring  a 
blessing  to  those  who  hunger  for  light  on  their 
dark  and  rugged  paths.  The  churches  grow  in 
number  and  many  of  them  in  grace ;  the  preachers 
are  found  to  minister  to  them,  and  many  with 
final  justification  for  their  faith  and  patience; 
and  so  the  education  of  the  needy  people  goes  on 
—  the  education  of  the  soul,  the  mind,  and  the 
body.  The  story  of  it  all  can  never  be  told,  but 
the  accomplishment  is  visible  in  part. 

A  new  generation  of  teachers,  with  few  excep- 
252 


EXPERIENCE   AND   JUSTIFICATION 

tions,  has  now  taken  the  places  of  those  who  began 
the  work.  Then  Christian  men  and  women  were 
filled  with  pity  for  the  poor  negroes,  shown  by  a 
movement  of  missionaries  and  of  money  that  was 
wonderful ;  but  we  have  now  come  to  a  time  when 
the  enthusiasm  peculiar  to  the  early  period  has 
passed,  when  with  the  coming  of  a  new  genera- 
tion this  service  must  go  on  by  the  forces  born  of 
a  fixed  conviction  and  a  consecration  of  unques- 
tioning faith  —  a  time  of  patient  work,  steady 
giving,  and  constant  praying. 

It  is  in  this  last  decade  of  the  history  of  our 
Southern  work  that  we  trace  more  evidently  the 
conflicting  thought  of  the  white  people  of  the 
South  as  to  the  attitude  which  should  be  main- 
tained towards  the  emancipated  race.  The 
prophets  and  seers,  the  apostles  of  a  day  of  right- 
eousness towards  all  classes  and  conditions  of 
men,  began  during  this  period  to  find  a  growing 
resistance  to  their  appeals  for  human  rights.  The 
appreciation  which  the  work  for  the  elevation  of 
the  negro  was  gaining  from  large-minded  and 
thoughtful  people  in  the  South  was  the  hopeful 
and  cheering  feature,  but  the  increasing  expres- 
sions of  opposition  gave  concern  for  the  future. 
So  far  as  the  results  of  thirty  years  were  consid- 
ered there  was  every  encouragement.  Beyond 
question,  the  hopes  of  the  fathers  had  been  more 

253 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

than  justified  in  those  who  had  gone  forth  from 
schools  and  churches  to  take  to  others  the  bless- 
ings which  they  had  received.  But  it  was  increas- 
ingly evident  that  this  very  success  of  those  edu- 
cated in  the  higher  institutions  of  the  South  for 
colored  people  excited  the  hostility  of  a  large  class 
of  white  people,  and  did  not  win  the  favor  of  an- 
other large  and  influential  class.  This  spirit 
which  was  unsympathetic  combined  with  that 
which  was  hostile,  while  it  occasioned  both  regret 
and  anxiety,  brought  no  change  of  our  purpose 
and  no  thought  of  relaxing  our  efforts. 

We  have  come  to  a  time  when  the  transitional 
phase  of  the  colored  people  has  become  particu- 
larly marked.  Not  only  those  who  were  supposed 
to  be  practically  permanent  in  rural  districts,  but 
also  those  who  had  flocked  to  the  large  towns  and 
cities  are  coming  and  going.  The  tendency  to 
drift  into  cities,  due  in  part  to  the  better  school 
facilities  which  the  cities  afford,  presents  impor- 
tant educational  and  evangelistic  suggestions. 
Under  conditions  which  make  for  unrest  in  rural 
sections,  localities  which  at  one  time  appeal  for 
help  at  a  later  date  appear  to  be  well-nigh 
deserted.  This  seldom  affects  happily  located 
schools  to  any  great  degree,  inasmuch  as  there 
are  more  who  wish  to  attend  them  than  can  well 
be  cared  for. 

254 


EXPERIENCE   AND   JUSTIFICATION 

The  transitional  conditions,  however,  are  more 
likely  to  add  to  the  uncertainty  of  life  and  growth 
of  rural  churches,  and  make  the  problem  of  evan- 
gelization among  those  who  greatly  need  it  in- 
creasingly difficult  and  sometimes  disappointing. 
Added  to  the  fact  that  our  more  sober  methods 
of  church  life  and  our  insistence  upon  purity  and 
Christian  integrity  demand  an  intelligence  and 
elevation  of  character  seldom  realized  apart  from 
permanent  educational  influences,  we  find  that  the 
growth  of  hopeful  churches  resembles  the  oak, 
which  asks  time  for  root  and  branches  rather  than 
the  cotton-plant  with  its  quick  and  short  life.  But 
with  the  constant  leaven  of  education  our  ideas 
and  ideals  are  becoming  better  known  to  the 
younger  generation,  and  we  may  hope  for  a  safe 
and  healthful  increase  of  churches  like  those 
which  have  already  proved  their  vitality,  and 
which  in  many  places  are  exerting  positive  Chris- 
tian influence.  We  accentuate  the  fact,  therefore, 
that  the  mere  statistics  of  evangelism  which  ap- 
pear under  the  caption  of  "  Church  Work  "  do 
not  at  all  adequately  represent  the  leavening 
power  of  the  gospel,  which  is  constantly  and 
widely  felt  among  the  colored  people.  The  lead- 
ing and  example  of  consecrated  teachers  day  by 
day  in  their  close  relationships  with  life  when 
character  is  forming  and  is  most  susceptible,  make 

255 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

our  schools  like  our  churches,  centers  of  redemp- 
tive power. 

This  period  was  particularly  memorable  in 
the  reception  by  the  Association  of  the  largest 
gift  from  a  living  contributor  ever  made,  up  to 
that  time,  to  a  missionary  society.  The  writer 
well  recalls  the  day  in  October,  1888,  when  the 
Hon.  Luzon  B.  Morris,  afterwards  governor  of 
Connecticut,  the  trusted  legal  and  financial  ad- 
viser of  Daniel  Hand  of  Guilford,  entered  the 
office  to  transfer  securities  to  the  amount  of  "  one 
million  eight  hundred  and  ninety-four  dollars 
and  twenty-five  cents,"  to  be  designated  "  The 
Daniel  Hand  Educational  Fund  for  Colored 
People."  The  gift  was  one  of  mature  delibera- 
tion, made  after  careful  examination  of  the  work 
of  the  Association  extending  through  a  period  of 
many  years ;  made  during  the  lifetime  it  avoided 
the  possibility  of  future  litigation.  It  was  be- 
stowed upon  a  race  with  whose  wants  Mr.  Hand 
had  become  thoroughly  conversant.  It  was  given 
to  a  society  with  whose  history,  amid  obloquy  and 
distrust,  he  was  perfectly  familiar,  and  it  was 
made  a  permanent  fund,  —  the  income  only  to  be 
available,  —  thus  insuring  its  perpetual  useful- 
ness. The  generous  giver,  formerly  a  merchant 
in  the  South,  had  acquired  his  fortune  there,  and 
personally  knew  of  the  ignorance  and  needs  of 

256 


EXPERIENCE   AND   JUSTIFICATION 

the  colored  people.     The  Deed  of  Trust  was  as 
follows  : 

THE    DEED    OF    TRUST 

Memorandum  of  Agreement  made  this  20th 
day  of  October,  a.  d.,  1888,  between  Daniel  Hand 
of  Guilford,  in  the  State  of  Connecticut,  and  the 
American  Missionary  Association  of  the  city, 
county,  and  State  of  New  York. 

The  said  Daniel  Hand,  desiring  to  establish  a 
permanent  fund,  the  income  of  which  shall  be 
used  for  the  purpose  of  educating  needy  and  indi- 
gent colored  people  of  African  descent,  residing, 
or  who  may  hereafter  reside  in  the  recent  slave 
states  of  the  United  States  of  America,  sometimes 
called  the  Southern  States ;  meaning  those  states 
wherein  slavery  was  recognized  by  law  in  the 
year  a.  d.,  1861,  and  in  consideration  of  the  prom- 
ises and  undertakings  of  the  said  American  Mis- 
sionary Association,  hereinafter  set  forth,  does 
hereby  give,  transfer,  and  deliver  unto  the  said 
American  Missionary  Association  the  following 
bonds  and  property  in  trust,  viz.:  [Here  follows 
a  list  of  the  property  transferred,  amounting  at 
par  value  to  $1,000,894.25.  The  market  value  is 
more  than  that  sum.]  Said  bonds  and  property 
to  be  received  and  held  by  said  American  Mis- 
sionary Association,  upon  trust,  and  for  the  fol- 
lowing purposes,  viz. :  To  safely  manage  the  said 
trust  fund,  to  change  investments  whenever  said 
Association  may  deem  it  necessary  or  advisable 
to  reinvest  the  principal  of  said  trust  fund  in  such 
securities,  property,  and  investments  as  said 
Association  may  deem  best,  and  to  use  the  income 
17  257 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

thereof  only  for  the  education  of  the  colored 
people  of  African  descent  residing  in  the  recent 
slave  states  of  the  United  States  of  America 
hereinbefore  specified. 

Such  income  to  be  applied  for  the  education  of 
such  colored  people  as  are  needy  and  indigent, 
and  such  as  by  their  health,  strength,  and  vigor 
of  body  and  mind  give  indications  of  efficiency  and 
usefulness  in  after  life. 

Said  American  Missionary  Association  and  the 
proper  officers  thereof  shall  have  the  right,  while 
acting  in  good  faith,  to  select  from  time  to  time 
such  persons  from  the  above  described  class  as 
are  to  receive  aid  from  the  income  of  said  trust 
fund,  hereby  confiding  to  said  Association  the 
selection  of  such  persons  as  it  shall  deem  most 
worthy  and  deserving  of  such  aid,  but  I  would 
limit  the  sum  of  $100  as  the  largest  sum  to  be 
expended  for  any  one  person  in  any  one  year 
from  this  fund.  I  impose  no  restrictions  upon 
said  Association  as  to  the  manner  in  which  they 
shall  use  such  income  for  the  education  of  such 
colored  people,  whether  by  establishing  schools 
for  that  purpose,  and  maintaining  the  same,  or 
by  furnishing  individual  aid;  trusting  to  said 
Association  and  the  officers  thereof  the  use  of 
such  means  in  the  execution  of  said  trust  as  in 
their  judgment  will  be  most  for  the  advantage 
of  that  class  of  people. 

Said  trust  fund  shall  be  set  apart,  and  at  all 
times  known  as  the  "  Daniel  Hand  Educational 
Fund  for  Colored  People."  And  the  said  Asso- 
ciation shall  keep  separate  accounts  of  the  invest- 
ment of  this  fund,  and  of  the  income  derived 
therefrom,  and  of  the  use  to  which  such  income  is 

258 


-yWsJSS    ' 


Daniel  Hand 


EXPERIENCE   AND   JUSTIFICATION 

applied,  and  shall  publish  monthly  statements  of 
the  receipts  from  said  fund,  specifying  its  source, 
object,  and  intention. 

The  said  American  Missionary  Association, 
acting  herein  by  Henry  W.  Hubbard,  its  Treas- 
urer, and  M.  E.  Strieby,  its  Corresponding  Sec- 
retary, who  are  duly  authorized  by  said  Associ- 
ation to  accept  the  foregoing  gift,  in  trust,  in  the 
name  of  the  Association,  hereby  accepts  the  same 
subject  to  all  the  conditions  hereinbefore  imposed 
thereon,  and  hereby  agrees  to  perform  said  trust, 
and  execute  all  the  duties  thereof  in  good  faith, 
so  as  to  carry  out  the  wishes  and  intentions  of 
the  grantor.  And  the  said  American  Missionary 
Association  hereby  acknowledges  the  receipt  from 
said  Daniel  Hand  of  the  above-mentioned  bonds 
and  property,  in  trust,  and  for  the  purposes  here- 
inbefore specified. 

The  giver  of  this  noble  fund  died  December 
17th,  1 89 1.  He  had  lived  to  see  in  some  measure 
the  working  of  his  great  bestowment,  and  to  give 
frequent  expression  of  absolute  confidence  in  the 
Association,  and  his  gratitude  that  God  had 
spared  him  to  behold  the  beginning  of  his  mag- 
nificent charity.  It  was  found  that  in  his  will, 
after  having  made  such  provision  for  his  dis- 
tant relatives  as  seemed  wise  to  him,  he  had 
added  to  his  munificent  trust  the  residue  of  his 
fortune,  making  the  Association  his  residuary 
legatee  to  the  amount  of  more  than  another  half 
million  of  dollars. 

259 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

Daniel  Hand  was  born  in  Madison,  Connecti- 
cut, July  1 6,  1 80 1,  and  was  therefore  ninety 
years  of  age  at  the  time  of  his  death.  His  an- 
cestors had  resided  in  that  town  for  several  gen- 
erations. He  was  the  fourth  of  seven  sons,  sur- 
viving them  all.  When  sixteen  years  of  age  he 
went  to  Augusta,  Georgia,  under  the  direction 
of  his  second  brother  residing  there,  whom  he 
succeeded  in  business.  Mr.  Hand  remained  in 
some  part  of  the  Southern  Confederacy  during 
the  entire  war.  His  partner,  Mr.  George  W. 
Williams,  who  was  conducting  a  branch  of  the 
business  at  Charleston,  South  Carolina,  protected 
the  capital  of  Mr.  Hand  from  the  confiscation 
seriously  threatened,  in  view  of  his  being  a  North- 
ern man  of  undisguised  antislavery  sentiments. 
After  the  war,  when  Mr.  Hand  came  North, 
Mr.  Williams  adjusted  the  business,  made  up  the 
account,  and  paid  over  to  Mr.  Hand  his  portion 
of  the  long-invested  capital  and  its  accumula- 
tions, as  an  honorable  merchant  and  trusted 
partner  would  do.  Bereaved  of  wife  and  chil- 
dren for  many  years,  his  benevolent  impulses  led 
Mr.  Hand  to  form  plans  to  use  his  large  wealth 
for  the  benefit  of  his  fellow  men.  He  was  a  man 
of  striking  presence,  of  strong  mind  and  strong 
convictions,  earnest  in  his  modes  of  thought  and 
vigorous  and  terse  in  their  expression.    His  reli- 

260 


EXPERIENCE  AND   JUSTIFICATION 

gious  life  and  character  were  formed  upon  the 
model  and  under  the  influence  of  his  Puritan 
ancestors.  Uniting  with  the  First  Presbyterian 
Church  in  Augusta,  Georgia,  when  twenty-eight 
years  of  age,  for  thirty  years  he  presided  over  its 
Sunday-school  as  its  superintendent.  In  his  old 
age,  as  he  laid  his  hand  upon  his  well-worn  Bible, 
he  said,  "  I  always  read  from  that  book  every 
morning,  and  have  done  so  from  my  boyhood 
except  in  comparatively  few  cases  of  unusual  in- 
terruption or  special  hindrance."  Such  being  the 
man,  his  splendid  philanthropy  is  a  natural  se- 
quence. It  is  well  to  hold  his  honored  name  and 
his  benefactions  in  lasting  gratitude. 

From  1886  there  is  a  record  of  great  enlarge- 
ment, twenty-one  advanced  schools  having  been 
added  to  those  previously  existing.  The  additions 
of  those  of  normal  grade  were  one  in  Virginia, 
five  in  Georgia,  one  in  Florida,  four  in  Alabama, 
six  in  Tennessee,  two  in  Kentucky,  one  in  Missis- 
sippi, and  one  in  Arkansas.  This  was  in  part 
made  possible  through  the  gift  of  Daniel  Hand. 
The  number  of  schools  developed  through  the 
Daniel  Hand  fund  was  fourteen,  which  in  1892 
had  increased  to  twenty-eight.  Most  of  them 
had  enlarged  their  teaching  forces  and  had  ad- 
vanced their  standards  of  instruction. 

Meanwhile,  Christian  education  in  school  and 
261 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

church  is  finding  its  justification  and  encourage- 
ment in  the  gradually  changing  life  of  the  colored 
people.  The  slave  is  becoming  a  memory.  The 
religious  "  spirituals  "  are  giving  way  to  "  Gos- 
pel Hymns " ;  there  is  an  evident  gain  upon 
superstition;  the  ideas  of  liberty  and  manhood 
are  being  better  understood ;  increasing  numbers 
of  educated  young  men  and  women  are  proving 
their  culture  and  their  powers  in  helping  to  teach 
and  uplift  the  unfortunate  ones  of  their  race  still 
in  ignorance  and  degradation.  There  is  a  steady 
gain  upon  the  great  mass  of  those  unreached  by 
any  of  the  Christianizing  agencies.  These  de- 
graded ones  are  many,  and  their  condition  fur- 
nishes critics  with  their  assertions  that  the  entire 
race  is  deteriorating.  This  is  not  true.  As  a 
race  the  colored  people  are  surely  rising.  There 
are  more  good  homes.  There  is  acquisition  of 
property.  Many  are  accumulating  wealth.  It 
is  this  evident  development,  indeed,  that  is  pro- 
ducing a  ferment  at  the  South  which  our  records 
at  this  time  particularly  recognize.  As  the  race, 
no  longer  enslaved,  grows  in  self-consciousness 
and  takes  on  a  worthy  ambition,  the  antagonisms 
of  those  who  are  unfriendly  become  more  pro- 
nounced. It  is  the  advancement,  indeed,  of  the 
negro  which  excites  unrest  in  those  hostile  to  his 
progress.    This,  no  doubt,  is  a  necessary  process, 

262 


EXPERIENCE  AND   JUSTIFICATION 

taking  people  as  they  are,  and  human  nature 
being  what  it  is.  All  transitional  periods  in  indi- 
viduals and  in  peoples  are  trying,  both  to  those 
who  are  passing  out  of  one  stage  into  another 
and  to  those  who  have  to  bear  with  the  experience ! 
The  situation  in  many  parts  of  the  South  can- 
not be  better  outlined  than  by  the  following  pas- 
sage written  by  a  colored  pastor: 

As  you  know,  we  are  engaged  in  a  life-and-death 
struggle  to  secure  protection  of  life  and  property 
against  mob  violence  and  lynch  law.  We  are  trying 
to  arouse  a  righteous  public  sentiment  throughout  the 
South  and  to  bring  about  the  passage  of  stronger  and 
better  laws.  Yet  when  laws  are  passed,  the  work  will 
only  be  begun.  The  social  chaos  of  the  South  is  due 
to  the  moral  chaos.  So  long  as  one  race  is  strong  and 
wicked  and  the  other  weak  and  wicked  mobs  and  lynch- 
ings  will  continue. 

The  conditions  at  this  period  which  confronted 
the  Association  find  expression  in  an  "  Appeal  of 
the  colored  people  of  the  United  States,"  in  these 
words : 

We  pray  for  patience,  which,  counting  the  blessings 
we  enjoy  rather  than  the  ills  we  endure,  inspires  us  to 
bear  and  forbear.  We  pray  for  wisdom  to  decide  be- 
tween the  good  and  the  evil  side,  for  race  integrity. 
We  pray  not  only  for  ourselves;  we  pray  for  the 
civilization  which,  after  two  thousand  years  of  Chris- 

263 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

tian  teaching,  exults  in  deeds  which  would  bring  to 
the  cheek  of  barbarism  the  blush  of  shame.  We  appeal 
to  the  intelligence  and  fairness  of  the  American  people 
to  extend  to  colored  citizens  of  the  Republic  the  same 
rights,  privileges,  and  immunities  that  are  extended 
to  foreigners  for  the  asking.  We  appeal  to  the  civiliza- 
tion of  the  world  for  that  human  sympathy  which  our 
unfortunate  position  warrants;  also  for  that  whole- 
some interest  which  of  itself  will  tend  to  check  law- 
lessness and  make  effective  our  rights  of  citizenship. 

The  response  to  such  pathetic  appeals  on  the 
part  of  the  Association  may  be  seen  in  its  utter- 
ances at  this  time.  Said  Dr.  Charles  H.  Rich- 
ards, then  of  Philadelphia,  at  our  Annual  Meet- 
ing in  Lowell,  Massachusetts : 

There  is  a  new  South  coming  to  the  front.  If  I 
had  the  ear  of  that  better  South  to-day  I  would  say 
to  it,  "  Here  is  your  glorious  opportunity.  It  is  for 
you  to  bring  to  bear  upon  this  vast  element  of  danger 
such  influences  as  will  change  it  into  immeasurable 
help  and  blessing  to  the  South  and  to  the  world.  And 
how  can  you  do  this?  Can  you  do  it  by  robbing  the 
negro  of  those  rights  which  the  common  law  of  our 
country  has  solemnly  declared  to  be  his?  Can  you  do 
it  by  lynching  him  ?  A  thousand  negroes  in  the  South 
have  suffered  death  by  this  lawless  and  barbarous 
method  within  the  past  ten  years,  many  entirely  inno- 
cent of  the  crime  of  which  they  were  accused.  .  .  . 
Put  away  the  coward  fear  of  negro  equality.  Prevent 
this  not  by  keeping  the  black  man  down,  but  by  con- 

264 


EXPERIENCE   AND   JUSTIFICATION 

stantly  rising-  higher  yourselves.  Nobody  can  catch 
up  with  you  if  you  only  keep  far  enough  ahead.  The 
salvation  of  the  South  is  the  salvation  of  the  black 
race  in  the  South.  We  would  aid  you  in  this  great 
work.     Welcome  us  as  your  fellow  laborers." 

Dr.  Lyman  Abbott  voiced  the  sentiments  of 
the  Association  in  the  Annual  Meeting  in  Boston : 

It  means  the  same  kind  of  law  for  the  black  man 
that  there  is  for  a  white  man.  We  protest  against  the 
heathen  barbarism  that  hangs  a  white  man  for  a  crime 
after  trial  and  burns  a  black  man  for  crime  without 
trial.  .  .  .  We  claim  for  him  equal  political  rights. 
The  law  which  says  to  a  thrifty  negro,  "  You  shall 
not  vote,"  and  to  a  thriftless  white  man,  "  You  may 
vote,"  is  an  unjust  and  inequitable  law.  The  law 
which  provides  one  kind  of  educational  qualification  for 
this  man  because  his  skin  is  tanned  and  another  for 
that  man  because  his  skin  is  not  tanned  is  an  unjust 
and  inequitable  law.  We  stand,  too,  for  this,  that  all 
the  redemptive  influences  which  have  been  about  us 
shall  be  about  them ;  that  they  shall  have  the  same 
educational  and  religious  facilities  and  the  same  stim- 
ulus to  intellectual  and  moral  growth.  Any  scheme 
of  education  which  proposes  to  furnish  the  negro  race 
only  with  manual  and  industrial  education  is  a  covert 
contrivance  for  putting  him  in  serfdom;  it  tacitly 
says  that  the  negro  is  the  inferior  of  the  white  race, 
and  therefore  we  will  educate  him  to  serve  us.  The 
race  must  have  an  education  which  in  its  final  outcome 
shall  be  complete  for  the  race  as  a  race,  which  shall 
include  the  curriculum  of  education,  and  which  shall 

265 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

open  opportunities  for  the  highest  culture  of   which 
any  individual  of  that  race  is  capable. 

I  stop  a  moment  to  speak  with  reverence  to  those 
who  in  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  under  the  auspices 
of  this  and  similar  societies  have  been  carrying  on 
this  work  in  the  South.  These  workers  in  our  South- 
ern fields  better  illustrate  and  exemplify  incarnation 
and  atonement  than  any  words  of  preacher  ever  have 
done.  If  ever  in  human  history  there  was  a  body  of 
men  and  women  who  have  felt  the  breath  of  the 
Master  on  them,  and  heard  his  word,  saying,  "  As  the 
Father  hath  sent  me  into  the  world  even  so  send  I 
you,"  it  is  these  men  and  women  whose  lives  have  been 
lives  of  long  self-sacrifice,  prosaic  service  unhonored 
and  unsung  of  men,  but  not  unhonored  nor  unsung 
above. 

Such  testimonials,  which  might  be  multiplied  at 
length,  are  the  answer  of  the  Association  to  the 
appeals  of  the  colored  people,  and  they  are  the 
answer  to  those  who  through  the  reiteration  of 
those  hostile  in  the  South  were  continually  insist- 
ing that  the  work  of  educating  the  children  of  the 
freedmen  has  been  one  of  mistaken  benevolence. 
Those  who  are  looking  chiefly  at  the  degradation 
of  the  colored  people  not  yet  raised  from  their  low 
estate,  and  at  the  evils  which  attend  upon  degra- 
dation, are  asked  to  remember  that  empty  minds 
have  neither  within  themselves  nor  in  their  en- 
vironment protection  against  evil,  and  that  the 
degradation  is  not  because  the  race   is  losing 

266 


EXPERIENCE   AND   JUSTIFICATION 

ground  once  possessed.  The  condition  of  those 
still  submerged  is  simply  made  more  apparent 
because  the  race  is  gaining.  In  slavery  when  all 
were  down  in  the  bogs  together,  the  race  had  no 
element  of  comparison,  but  now  when  the  stand- 
ards of  the  race  are  higher,  the  contrast  is  strik- 
ing, and  the  condition  of  the  residuum  is  not 
evidence  that  the  race  is  deteriorating.  There 
are  those  who  judge  the  entire  negro  race  by  five 
per  cent  of  degenerates  out  of  the  ninety-five  per 
cent  of  the  ignorant  half.  The  truer  judgment 
looks  at  the  fifty-six  per  cent  of  the  entire  race 
that  have  been  upraised  to  a  worthy  moral  and 
intellectual  condition,  and  have  within  a  genera- 
tion attained  a  degree  of  material  thrift  and 
pure  life,  and  a  general  regard  for  law  and 
order  that  will  not  suffer  in  comparison  with  the 
attainments  of  similar  white  people  North  or 
South. 

It  was  permitted  to  Dr.  Strieby  to  live  to  hear 
such  testimonials  and  to  recall  the  days  when 
few  of  those  who  were  prominent  were  able  to  see 
their  way  to  cast  their  influence  for  a  society 
which  courageously  stood  for  human  rights 
and  brotherhood  when  these  were  thought 
to  be  the  idle  speculations  of  impracticable 
dreamers.  Dr.  Strieby  entered  the  service 
of  the  Association  as  Corresponding  Secretary 

267 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

with  Dr.  Whipple  in  1864,  when  he  was  forty- 
nine  years  of  age.  After  graduation  from  Oberlin 
College  and  Seminary,  he  was  pastor  at  Mt.  Ver- 
non, Ohio,  for  eleven  years.  He  next  organized 
the  church  at  Syracuse,  New  York,  and,  as  at 
Mt.  Vernon,  proved  his  ability  as  a  pastor  and 
preacher.  But  his  larger  work  was  accomplished 
after  middle  life.  No  one  can  measure  his  influ- 
ence in  the  development  of  the  work  of  the  Asso- 
ciation during  his  secretaryship  of  thirty-five 
years.  He  had  a  prophet's  look  beyond  the  work 
of  the  hour,  and  saw  the  relation  of  things.  His 
convictions  were  realities  and  he  had  the  grace 
to  hold  them  firmly.  Often  misunderstood  and 
criticized,  he  was  more  sorry  for  his  critics  than 
angry  with  them,  and  in  the  stormiest  sea  his 
attitude  of  mind  was,  "  You  may  sink  me  if  you 
will,  but  I  will  keep  my  rudder  true."  Not 
anxious  for  praise,  he  was  not  afraid  of  blame 
when  he  felt  that  he  was  right.  He  could  wait 
for  the  justification  of  time,  which  sets  all  things 
even,  and  he  never  doubted  that  clouds  would 
break,  never  thought,  though  right  were  worsted, 
that  wrong  would  triumph.  He  was  too  much  of 
a  prophet  to  be  a  time-server  or  to  trim  for  any 
temporary  advantage.  Not  many  men  of  all  the 
nation  were  doing  more  for  the  country  than  he 
in  administering  upon  the  broad  schemes  for  the 

268 


Secretary  M.  E.  Strieby,  D.D. 


EXPERIENCE   AND   JUSTIFICATION 

Christian  education  and  evangelization  of  the 
ignorant  and  needy  peoples  to  whom  he  had  de- 
voted his  life.  When  he  died  at  Clifton  Springs, 
New  York,  March  16,  1899,  there  was  no  lack  of 
testimony  to  the  wisdom  and  greatness  of  his 
accomplished  work. 

As  the  years  progress,  they  differentiate  mainly 
in  the  necessary  and  varying  problems  of  admin- 
istration and  development  —  problems  never  free 
from  difficulties,  and  sometimes  large  with  dis- 
couragements, but  always  marked  by  a  conscien- 
tious performance  of  a  constant  purpose.  The 
words  of  Rev.  C.  A.  Patton,  d.d.,  of  St.  Louis, 
Missouri,  son  of  the  early  champion  of  the 
Association  in  its  brave  beginnings,  are  well 
chosen  as  he  reviewed  the  years  and  their  con- 
clusions : 

I  thank  God  for  the  American  Missionary  Associ- 
ation. Through  all  these  years  it  has  anchored  us  to 
the  conception  of  a  universal  brotherhood.  Some 
churches  have  cared  nothing  for  these  things.  Some 
have  openly  advocated  the  disruption  of  the  races 
in  the  very  house  of  the  Lord.  We  have  stood  firm ; 
we  have  refused  to  lower  our  standards  a  hair's  breadth 
under  the  pressure  of  prejudice  or  expediency.  Please 
God,  we  never  shall.  This  Association  stands  su- 
premely for  the  highest  ideal  of  humanity;  we  believe 
it  with  all  our  souls.  We  are  confident  of  its  increas- 
ing success.     Our  progress  may  be  slow,  for  the  ten- 

269 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

dencies  we  combat  are  as  old  and  as  mighty  as  human 
wrong,  but  the  result  is  sure.  It  matters  not  if  we 
meet  with  indifference,  criticism,  or  opposition;  the 
cause  is  the  cause  of  humanity  and  has  behind  it  the 
eternal  purpose  of  God. 


270 


XIV 
SURVEY   AND    OUTLOOK 


Contrasts :  Hampton  Institute  as  it  was  and  is. — Atlanta 
University. — Berea  College. — Fisk  University. — Talladega 
College.  —  Tougaloo    University.  —  Straight    University. 

—  Tillotson  College.  —  Piedmont  College.  —  Normal  and 
graded  schools.  —  Large  development.  —  Illustration  of 
extending  influence.  —  Theological  school  at  Atlanta.  — 
Hopeful  sympathy  in  the  South.  —  Adverse  sentiment.  — 
Other  agencies.  —  Methodist,  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Prot- 
estant Episcopal,  Friends.  —  Independent  schools.  —  North- 
ern philanthropy  discounted.  —  Reply  of  Kelly  Miller.  — 
Testimony  of  Dr.  Curry.  —  Evidence  of  negro  progress. 

—  Dr.  Talcott  Williams'  comparison  of  the  negro  and 
serf.  —  The  social  study  of  the  negro  churches.  —  Our 
denominational  influence.  —  Retrospect  and  prospect. 


XIV 
SURVEY   AND    OUTLOOK 

THE  passing  of  threescore  years  has  re- 
moved those  who  organized  the  Associ- 
ation and  most  of  those  who  remember 
its  feeble  beginnings.  During  twoscore  of  these 
years  its  energies  have  been  chiefly  directed  to 
the  greatest  problem  of  the  country,  the  develop- 
ment and  reconstruction  of  a  race  which  began 
absolutely  with  nothing  as  it  came  out  of  the 
tyrannies  and  irresponsibilities  of  slavery.  The 
Association  also  began  with  nothing  except 
strong  convictions  and  great  faith. 

After  this  period  of  time,  as  we  now  survey  the 
fields,  there  is  abundant  reason  for  gratitude  to 
God  and  to  his  people.  Between  1846  and  1906 
there  are  great  contrasts.  The  little  school  at 
Hampton,  Virginia,  which  grew  and  became 
great  under  the  brilliant  genius  of  General  Arm- 
strong, perpetuated  by  the  wise  guidance  of 
his  distinguished  successor,  has  won  as  an  inde- 
pendent institution  the  national  fame  which  it 
richly  deserves. 

18  273 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Atlanta  University,  also  a  child  of  the  Associ- 
ation which  has  come  to  self-provision,  has  been 
no  small  factor  in  the  problem  of  the  redemption 
and  regeneration  of  a  race. 

Berea  College,  still  another  child  of  the  Associ- 
ation with  a  like  early  history,  helped  through  its 
hard  struggles  for  life  and  power  to  stand  alone, 
rejoices  in  its  successful  ability  to  work  out  the 
prayer  of  its  heroic  pioneer  educators,  and  to 
realize  in  its  great  mission  the  dreams  of  those 
who  had  faith  in  the  promises,  "  having  seen 
them  afar  off." 

Of  the  institutions  now  under  the  Association's 
watch  and  care,  Fisk  University  stands  promi- 
nent with  its  long  list  of  college  graduates,  men 
and  women,  many  of  whom  having  achieved  dis- 
tinction in  the  higher  callings  of  life,  have  re- 
flected honor  upon  their  college  and  upon  their 
race. 

Talladega  College,  next  in  order  of  time,  drew 
its  first  breath  of  life  in  1867;  and  there  are 
no  scales  now  large  enough  to  weigh  the  com- 
manding influences,  intellectual  and  religious, 
which  have  gone  forth  to  uplift  and  upbuild  the 
tens  of  thousands  who  have  felt  its  power. 

Tougaloo  University,  in  the  center  of  the  Black 
Belt  of  Mississippi,  wins  from  eminent  white  citi- 
zens of  the  state  the  highest  testimonials  and  the 

274 


SURVEY   AND   OUTLOOK 

fullest  sympathy.  One  of  its  most  distinguished 
citizens  writes :  "  I  rejoice  in  the  missionary  zeal, 
born  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  which  has  sent  so  many 
cultured  and  consecrated  men  and  women  to 
labor  among  the  negroes  of  the  South.  I  live 
within  a  few  miles  of  Tougaloo  University;  I 
believe  it  to  be  possibly  the  most  potential  factor 
in  developing  the  negroes  of  our  state  for  the 
higher  functions  of  useful  citizenship.  I  can  but 
applaud  the  wise  policy  you  have  adopted  and  the 
splendid  efficiency  of  your  administration." 

Straight  University  in  New  Orleans  in  thirty 
years  of  its  history,  sending  out  large  numbers 
of  well-prepared  teachers  for  public  schools  and 
devoted  pastors  for  churches,  has  not  only  en- 
couraged a  spirit  of  kindliness  and  confidence 
between  the  races  where  this  was  greatly  needed, 
but  has  often  been  held  up  before  Southern 
citizens  by  Southern  educators  as  an  exam- 
ple of  what  an  institution  of  the  kind  should 
be.  Its  graduates  scattered  throughout  this  sec- 
tion of  the  South  are  found  in  all  the  trades  and 
professions. 

Tillotson  College  in  Texas,  younger  and  less 
prominent,  has  not  failed  to  place  its  permanent 
impress  upon  that  great  state.  Those  of  its  stu- 
dents who  have  had  their  ambitions  stirred  to 
seek  the  larger  advantages  of  New  England  col- 

275 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

leges  have  won  laurels  for  scholarship  and  have 
placed  themselves  high  in  the  ranks  of  acknowl- 
edged ability. 

Piedmont  College  in  Georgia,  our  latest  acces- 
sion of  advanced  institutions,  in  answer  to  ap- 
peals from  our  white  brethren  in  those  Southern 
states  which  were  the  scene  of  our  exciting  mis- 
sionary experiences  before  the  war,  is  extending 
Christian  education  among  the  people  of  the 
highlands  and  the  lowlands,  and  cementing  the 
friendships  of  those  who  were  strangers  and  who 
accounted  us  as  foreigners.  Through  institu- 
tions such  as  these,  we  "  are  no  more  strangers 
and  foreigners,  but  fellow-citizens  with  the 
saints,"  at  least,  and  with  many  who  may  not 
strictly  be  so  classified. 

One  of  the  most  interesting  schools  of  the  Asso- 
ciation was  organized  in  the  fall  of  1895  through 
the  large  benevolence  of  Mrs.  Julia  A.  Brick 
of  Brooklyn,  New  York.  Her  gift  of  a  beauti- 
ful plantation  of  one  thousand  one  hundred  and 
twenty-nine  acres  with  several  fine  buildings 
thereon,  gave  the  name  to  the  institution,  in  honor 
of  her  deceased  husband.  The  Joseph  Keasbey 
Brick  Agricultural,  Industrial  and  Normal  School 
is  situated  three  miles  from  Enfield,  North  Caro- 
lina, on  the  Atlantic  Coast  Line.  The  fourteen 
years'  history  and  growth  of  the  school  have  al- 

276 


SURVEY  AND  OUTLOOK 

ready  realized  in  large  measure  her  dream  to 
ameliorate  the  sad  conditions  which  existed  when 
Mrs.  Brick  made  her  large  bestowments  to  this 
work.  No  more  fitting  monument  could  have 
been  built  to  the  memory  of  her  husband  than  this 
splendid  school. 

Within  the  past  twenty  years,  while  our  work 
has  been  that  of  concentration,  the  Association 
has  increased  its  normal  and  graded  schools  from 
fourteen  to  forty-four,  its  corps  of  instructors 
from  218  to  476,  and  the  pupils  under  instruction 
from  8,462  to  14,429.  Within  this  time  the 
higher  grades  in  the  schools  have  enlarged  them- 
selves from  2,348  to  5,580.  The  teachers  a  score 
of  years  ago  who  had  college  degrees  were  twenty- 
two.  There  were  in  1906,  136  graduates  of  col- 
leges teaching  in  our  various  institutions.  The 
construction  of  buildings  in  this  period  for  educa- 
tional purposes  is  represented  by  an  additional 
insurance  of  more  than  half  a  million  dollars. 

These  statistics  of  present  conditions,  encour- 
aging as  they  are,  by  no  means  represent  the  full 
achievements  of  faith,  nor  adequately  measure 
the  work  and  influences  of  a  single  score  of  years. 
The  benevolences  of  the  churches  and  the  legacies 
of  those  who  have  remembered  the  salvation  and 
amelioration  of  the  neglected  peoples  who  have 
needed  help  for  the  way  of  life,  have  kept  the 

277 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Association  in  the  front  rank  of  all  the  agencies 
for  this  missionary  work. 

As  an  illustration  of  the  way  in  which  these 
schools  extend  their  influences,  a  single  incident 
may  be  mentioned.  Two  officers  of  the  Associa- 
tion on  a  recent  tour  of  inspection  in  the  South 
visited  the  State  Normal  Industrial  College  for 
the  education  of  colored  youth  in  North  Carolina. 
The  president  of  this  state  institution  received 
them  with  cordial  welcome,  the  more  expressive 
because  he  had  "  been  educated  in  one  of  the 
Association's  schools."  Passing  to  the  next 
room,  the  teacher  informed  the  visitors  that  she 
was  "  a  product  of  the  American  Missionary 
schools."  At  the  head  of  the  mechanical  depart- 
ment was  an  able  director  who  gratified  them  by 
saying  that  he  also  had  "  received  his  prepara- 
tory education  in  one  of  the  schools  of  the  Associ- 
ation." Thus,  three  of  the  heads  of  departments, 
including  the  president,  were  passing  on  the  work 
of  the  Association  to  others  —  a  single  instance 
among  hundreds  who  have  gone  out  from  the 
schools  of  the  Association  with  acquired  power 
and  new  ambitions  to  help  build  up  other  South- 
ern institutions. 

Among  the  latest  responsibilities  assumed  in 
the  South  is  the  experiment  of  a  theological 
school  located  in  Atlanta,  Georgia.    Our  subven- 

278 


Beard  Hall,  Joseph  K.  Brick  School,  Enfield,  N.  C. 


Chapel,  Joseph  K.  Brick  School,  Enfield,  N.  C. 


SURVEY   AND  OUTLOOK 

tion  to  this,  it  is  hoped,  will  bring  large  results 
in  the  ministry  of  reconciliation  among  the  people 
who  are  in  Georgia. 

The  Association  has  been  greatly  encouraged 
in  its  work  by  helpful  sympathy  which  the  years 
have  brought  in  the  communities  where  our  insti- 
tutions are  located.  It  was  natural  that  when  our 
work  began  it  should  be  looked  upon  with  sus- 
picion. The  wounds  of  the  Civil  War  were  not 
over,  much  less  healed.  In  order  to  lift  the  lowly 
the  teachers  felt  that  they  must  not  hesitate  to 
take  the  black  hand  with  the  grasp  of  Christ ;  they 
must  stand  with  those  whom  they  were  seeking 
to  save;  they  must  help  the  people  in  their  rude 
homes  and  teach  them  how  to  live;  the  poverty 
and  the  barrenness  must  feel  the  elevating  touch 
not  only  of  pity  but  also  of  sympathy.  Those 
who  looked  upon  this  kind  of  consecration  and 
did  not  understand  it  could  have  no  other  feel- 
ing than  that  of  apprehension.  The  distrust  of 
motives  was  natural.  The  fear  of  "  social  equal- 
ity "  was  ever  present.  The  traditional  ideas  as 
to  a  servile  race,  the  relationships  to  social  en- 
vironment together  with  the  keen  sense  of  great 
material  losses  all  stood  in  the  way  of  apprecia- 
tion and  of  cooperation.  But  as  the  years  have 
passed  and  the  fruitage  of  the  early  planting  has 
ripened,  the  spirit  of  the  mission  has  been  better 

279 


AMERICAN    MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

comprehended  and  the  larger-minded  and  wider- 
visioned  have  been  able  to  readjust  their  feelings 
and  opinions.  Many  have  come  to  be  in  cordial 
cooperation  with  the  Association,  some  as  trus- 
tees of  institutions  and  others  as  friendly  visitors. 

The  brave  example  of  the  wise  men  in  the 
South  who  stand  for  the  education  and  elevation 
of  the  negro  is  most  grateful  to  the  Association 
which  has  had  this  service  upon  its  heart  for  half 
a  century.  It  appreciates  the  moral  courage  and 
purpose  of  those  who  thus  put  prejudices  aside 
in  behalf  of  the  needs  of  a  less  fortunate  race,  and 
who  are  resolute  enough  to  plead  with  outspoken 
sympathy  for  its  welfare  in  the  face  of  an  ad- 
verse sentiment  increasingly  popular  among  the 
masses  and  cruelly  dominant. 

The  assertion  in  the  South,  yet  too  common, 
that  it  "  understands  the  negro  question,"  and  if 
"  let  alone  "  will  settle  it  for  itself,  proceeds  upon 
the  supposition  that  a  certain  element  in  the 
South  speaks  for  all  of  it.  It  takes  little  account 
of  those  larger  in  mind  and  heart,  and  wiser  in 
thought  but  less  numerous,  while  it  dismisses 
from  any  consideration  whatever  a  South  of  nine 
millions  of  souls  which  have  human  rights  and 
whose  personal  concern  for  these  rights  has  every 
claim  to  be  consulted  and  regarded.  As  a  mis- 
sionary society,  born  of  zeal  for  righteousness 

280 


SURVEY   AND   OUTLOOK 

of  the  public  conscience  in  its  application  to  the 
oppressed,  and  working  since  for  millions  re- 
deemed from  slavery,  it  would  be  a  guilty  silence 
for  us  not  to  lift  our  voices  in  sympathy  for  them 
in  this  hour.  To  fail  in  protest  against  the  spirit 
and  purpose  which  would  reduce  the  race  to  the 
perpetual  injustice  of  a  subject  state,  and  make 
their  freedom  a  bitter  mockery,  would  be  to  sin 
against  our  history.  Meanwhile,  we  believe  that 
the  people  who  would  disfranchise  the  negro  and 
deprive  him  of  education  needed  for  his  advance- 
ment to  an  intelligent  right  to  citizenship  will 
finally  be  found  on  the  losing  side.  Their  partial 
realization  of  this  doubtless  explains  in  some 
degree  the  violence  of  their  vociferousness. 

As  we  consider  the  years  since  i860,  let  us  not 
forget  the  other  agencies  which  have  represented 
the  churches  of  Christ  in  the  missionary  work  of 
Christian  education.and  evangelism.  The  Freed- 
men's  Aid  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  North  has  a, blessed  and  shining  record 
since  1866.  The  Presbyterian  Church  North,  be- 
ginning at  the  same  time  with  like  theories  and 
methods,  has  pursued  its  work  with  the  same  fun- 
damental purpose.  The  Baptist  churches  of  the 
Northern  states  for  more  than  thirty  years  have 
developed  their  schools  with  the  best  ideas  of 
Christian  educators.     The  Protestant  Episcopal 

281 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Church  has  added  its  faith  and  works  to  uplift 
the  children  of  the  freedmen  to  Christian  intelli- 
gence and  character.  The  Society  of  Friends  and 
many  independent  schools  have  during  some  parts 
of  these  years  supplemented  this  service  for  the 
salvation  of  a  race. 

The  American  Missionary  Association,  which 
was  the  pioneer  to  feel  the  poverty  and  degrada- 
tion of  the  negro,  has  found  with  each  succeed- 
ing year  the  fruitful  confirmation  of  its  faith  and 
the  wisdom  of  its  methods  in  this  common  re- 
demptive work.  At  least  fifteen  millions  of  dol- 
lars have  passed  through  its  treasury  to  repre- 
sent and  stand  for  this  faith  as  its  expression. 
We  may  not  here  undertake  to  show  what  are 
the  results  of  those  who  have  given  their  lives 
and  of  those  who  have  thus  consecrated  their 
benevolences. 

It  has  been  the  fashion,  mostly  recent,  on  the 
part  of  those  to  whom  the  wish  is  father  to  the 
thought,  to  discredit  the  work  which  has  been 
accomplished.  Educated  Southern  men  have 
been  quoted  as  saying  that  "  the  money  contrib- 
uted to  negro  education  by  Northern  philan- 
thropy has  been  for  the  most  part  literally 
wasted."  By  persistent  asseverations,  diligently 
circulated  assertions  of  this  kind  have  gained  in 
certain  quarters  considerable  currency.     One  of 

282 


SURVEY   AND   OUTLOOK 

those  educated  through  this  Northern  philan- 
thropy thus  replies :  "  This,  in  the  face  of  the 
fact  that  it  was  through  this  same  Northern  phi- 
lanthropy that  one-third  of  the  population  of  the 
entire  South  has  received  its  first  and  chief  im- 
pulse for  better  and  higher  life;  that  these  insti- 
tutions of  Northern  benevolence  prepared  the 
thirty  thousand  negro  teachers  for  the  positions 
they  hold  in  the  public  schools ;  and  that  the  men 
and  women  who  owe  all  of  their  elevation  to  this 
same  philanthropy  are  those  who  are  lifting  the 
general  life  to  a  higher  level,  and  doing  all  they 
can  do  to  control  and  restrain  the  ignorant  and 
vicious  masses  which  have  as  yet  been  unreached 
by  like  influences." 

These  people  who  disparage  what  has  been  ac- 
complished, and  who  persist  in  judging  a  race  by 
its  criminal  class  rather  than  by  those  who  nobly 
represent  it,  would  not  wish  the  white  race  to  be 
subject  to  the  same  mis  judgment.  The  problem 
of  ignorance,  laziness,  brutality,  and  criminality 
surely  is  not  confined  to  any  race  or  section. 
Wherever  it  is,  it  can  only  yield  to  time  and 
patient  work.  With  patient  work  it  does  yield 
to  time.  "If,"  said  Kelly  Miller,  "it  takes 
twenty-five  years  to  educate  a  white  boy,  it  must 
require  an  incalculably  larger  period  to  educate 
a  black  race. 

283 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

"  We  hear  much  of  criminality.  The  chief  evil 
of  slavery  was  that  the  negro  did  not  act  from 
moral  choice.  When  he  was  well-behaved,  he 
was  so  upon  compulsion ;  when  physical  restraint 
was  removed,  there  had  been  no  convictive  moral 
restraint  to  take  its  place.  When  freedom  of 
action  and  liberty  of  choice  came,  the  negro  was 
not  prepared  for  it,  and  yet  the  criminal  average 
of  the  South  Atlantic  Division  of  states,  where 
the  colored  race  is  densest,  has  by  the  Eleventh 
Census  less  criminals  to  a  million  people  than  the 
North  Atlantic  Division,  and  also  less  than  the 
Western  section,  in  each  of  which  the  negroes  are 
relatively  few.  New  York  and  California  have 
a  higher  criminal  record  than  Alabama  and 
South  Carolina." 

Alas,  there  is  criminality!  Ignorance  begets 
crime.  It  remains  true  that  without  such  serv- 
ice as  Christian  teachers  have  been  giving,  and 
are  giving,  millions  would  sink  into  hopeless 
degradation,  favorable  to  crime.  The  products 
of  the  Christian  schools  have  met  every  expecta- 
tion from  the  standard  of  character  and  conduct. 
If  they  have  not  banished  all  ignorance  and  all 
poverty,  and  obliterated  all  vicious  tendencies, 
they  have  yet  made  a  greater  and  more  blessed 
record  than  words  can  express. 

A  worthier  testimony  than  that  of  confessed! 

284 


SURVEY   AND   OUTLOOK 

hostility  comes  "from  the  honored  secretary  and 
administrator  of  the  Slater  and  Peabody  funds, 
Dr.  Curry,  than  whom  there  could  be  cited  no 
higher  authority.  This  eminent  Southerner  says: 
"  It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  both  races  that  edu- 
cation should  go  on.  As  a  rule  the  criminals 
among  Southern  negroes  are  not  only  the  prod- 
uct of  post-bellum  life;  they  are  uneducated.  It 
is  the  rarest  thing  that  an  educated  negro  com- 
mits crime  against  virtue  and  life.  In  our  ex- 
tremity we  look  to  the  wise  and  just  people  in 
the  Northern  states  to  help  us,  to  help  the  race. 
Without  Northern  cooperation  conditions  will  go 
from  bad  to  worse."  With  all  the  fervor  of  his 
large  knowledge,  Dr.  Curry  gave  his  answer  to 
the  strange  theory  that  Christian  education  is  a 
failure  in  that  it  does  not  prevent  crime  among 
those  who  as  yet  are  beyond  its  saving  power. 

There  is  no  criticism  that  will  stand  the  tests 
of  candid  inquiry  as  to  the  character  and  con- 
duct of  those  who  go  forth  from  a  continuous 
course  of  study  and  discipline  of  our  schools. 
They  are  at  work  uplifting  their  people.  They 
are  leavening  the  millions  of  their  race.  That 
the  negro  people  are  thus  contributing  to  solve 
the  problem  of  their  salvation  is  a  fact  full  of 
cheer.  A  mighty  army  of  coworkers,  many  of 
them  wide-visioned  and  wise,  are  both  in  them- 

285 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

selves  and  in  their  work  confirming  the  faith  of 
the  fathers  and  the  wisdom  of  their  far-reaching 
methods. 

For  the  past,  then,  there  is  every  reason  for 
gratulation,  and  for  the  future  there  is  little  call 
for  doubt.  The  Association  has  not  been  infal- 
lible. This  it  has  never  claimed,  but  it  has  been 
providentially  led.  Let  it  be  true  that  the  fervor 
of  Northern  philanthropy  is  largely  over;  that 
the  higher  education  is  challenged  by  many  who 
once  actively  supported  it;  that  the  negro  has 
lost  his  vote  in  the  Southern  states  and  that  many 
Southern  people  insist  upon  the  astounding  propo- 
sition that  all  education  is  a  mistake  for  the  negro ; 
it  remains  that  the  Association  has  no  reason  to 
reconsider  its  principles,  nor  to  change  its  gen- 
eral methods.  The  results  show  that  they  have 
everywhere  been  a  saving  grace  and  a  trans- 
forming power,  a  grand  and  fruitful  investment 
with  wonderful  returns  in  character  and  in  life. 
They  have  made  thousands  of  good  homes  out 
of  poor  cabins  and  hundreds  of  good  churches 
out  of  superstitious  congregations.  They  have 
stimulated  the  virtues  of  industry  and  economy. 
They  have  successfully  taught  that  character 
means  advancement  in  life  and  in  possessions. 
The  evidences  are  to  be  seen  in  every  town  and 
village  in  the  South. 

286 


SURVEY   AND   OUTLOOK 

The  Association  looks  out  upon  a  negro  popu- 
lation to-day  of  more  than  nine  million.  These 
are  estimated  to  hold  more  than  $400,000,000  of 
property  or  two-thirds  as  much  as  was  held  by 
nine  million  of  whites  in  this  country  a  century 
ago.  The  Association  sees  the  negro  people 
to-day  operating  thirteen  per  cent  of  the  whole 
number  of  farms  in  the  United  States  and  thirty- 
seven  per  cent  of  the  farms  in  the  Southern 
states.  The  continued  development  of  the  race 
for  forty  years  is  simply  phenomenal. 

At  the  same  time,  it  is  true  that  nearly  one- 
half  of  the  race  is  yet  in  deplorable  ignorance. 
Among  these  are  the  shiftless  and  indolent  with 
a  low  mental  and  moral  life.  From  these  the 
criminal  class  is  recruited.  Among  these  are 
the  idlers  who  are  seen  in  the  streets  and  about 
the  saloons  of  white  men,  clad  in  ragged  gar- 
ments and  covered  with  impossible  head-gear. 
People  do  not  see,  unless  they  look  for  them,  those 
who  are  not  idling,  those  who  are  doing  honest 
work  with  steady  industry,  those  who  have  been 
quickened  with  ambition  to  improve,  those  who 
are  teaching  others,  those  who  are  making  great 
sacrifices  to  keep  their  children  in  school.  But 
because  there  is  an  idle  residuum  who  will  work 
only  enough  to  maintain  an  impoverished  exist- 
ence, there  are  those  ready  to  pronounce  all  forms 

287 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

of  education  failures.  It  is  intellectual  and  spir- 
itual ignorance  which  interprets  itself  in  indus- 
trial inefficiency. 

An  authority  no  less  than  Dr.  Talcott  Wil- 
liams has  repeatedly  testified  that  in  the  con- 
sistent application  of  an  impartial  Christian  civili- 
zation the  Association  has  proved  itself  to  have 
possessed  and  used  the  true  social  remedy  for  the 
development  and  salvation  of  an  undeveloped 
race. 

"  Granted,"  he  says,  "  that  the  negro  race  re- 
quires an  industrial  training  and  natural  selec- 
tion, the  negro  must  be  provided  with  higher  edu- 
cation which  will  prevent  him  from  being  a  mere 
stratum  at  the  base  of  industry. 

"  If  the  negro  group  is  to  be  more  than  a  caste, 
it  must  develop  its  aim,  its  aspirations,  and  its 
future  by  the  aid  of  a  wide  training  which  puts 
it  in  touch  with  the  past,  and  this  training  must 
be  at  hand  close  to  the  negro  population. 

"  Neither  college  nor  industrial  training  can 
be  spared.  If  the  republic  is  at  length  to  fuse 
and  assimilate  all  within  its  sovereignty,  it  can 
only  be  as  all  enjoy  the  possibility  of  every  advan- 
tage open  to  any.  The  final  object  of  all  Ameri- 
can efTort  is  a  more  perfect  union,  and  can  only 
come  by  closing  no  door  to  any  man. 

"  The  negro  came  of  a  race  which  had  never 

m 


SURVEY   AND   OUTLOOK 

known  letters.  The  serf  came  of  a  stock  which 
had  inherited  the  learning  of  the  Byzantine  em- 
pire. Forty  years  have  passed.  Among  the  serfs 
not  one  in  ten  can  read  and  write;  not  one  child 
in  fourteen  is  attending  school.  Only  three  per 
cent  of  the  population  —  three  out  of  every  hun- 
dred —  enter  a  schoolroom  from  year's  end  to 
year's  end.  The  negro  began  environed  with 
statutes  which  made  his  education  a  crime.  After 
forty  years  fifty-five  per  cent  of  this  adult  popula- 
tion can  read  and  write,  where  of  the  Russian 
serf  seventy  per  cent  are  still  illiterate.  Thirty- 
five  per  cent  of  his  population  against  three  per 
cent  of  the  Russian  are  at  school ;  and  of  his  chil- 
dren, not  one  in  fourteen,  but  two,  are  regularly 
attending  their  classes.  The  gate  of  all  higher 
education  is  closed  to  the  serf  by  administrative 
order.  Two  thousand  negroes,  many  of  them 
owing  their  education  to  this  Association,  have 
taken  their  college  degrees.  There  is  much  to 
discourage,  doubtless,  in  the  condition  of  the 
American  negro,  but  when  I  remember  the  prog- 
ress made  by  four  million  negroes  in  the  United 
States,  I  feel  more  strongly  that  freedom  is  jus- 
tified of  her  children,  whatever  their  color,  and 
that  the  experience  of  the  past  is  the  just  enlarg- 
ing hope  of  the  future." 

In  the  "  Social  Study  of  the  Negro  Church," 
»9  289 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

under  the  direction  of  the  Eighth  Atlanta  Con- 
ference, the  religious  condition  of  the  children  of 
the  freedmen  in  their  various  communions  is 
carefully  examined.  As  to  the  general  character 
of  the  churches  and  preachers,  there  is  yet  much 
to  be  desired.  Inquiry  by  correspondence  of  some 
two  hundred  negro  laymen  of  intelligence  in  all 
parts  of  the  South  with  a  schedule  of  questions 
indicated  a  great  crying  need  of  religious  effort 
and  moral  aspiration  among  the  masses  of  the 
colored  people  —  the  need  of  an  earnest,  educated, 
and  consecrated  ministry.  On  the  whole,  the 
older  type  of  preachers  is  gradually  passing,  and 
the  churches  more  and  more  are  demanding  posi- 
tive Christian  character  and  intelligent  leader- 
ship. This  process  of  emancipation  from  the 
old  order  of  ignorant  and  often  morally  unfit 
preachers  is  going  on  largely  under  the  leader- 
ship of  educated  and  godly  men  from  the  mis- 
sionary schools.  In  our  own  Congregational 
affiliation  the  churches  are  both  few  and  small 
in  comparison  with  the  great  number  of  negro 
churches.  Requiring  first  of  all  the  reality  of 
Christian  life  and  experience,  and  standing  for 
high  religious,  moral,  and  intellectual  aims,  as 
against  the  heritage  of  superstitions  and  the 
errors  of  ignorance,  the  growth  necessarily  has 
been  slow,  and  the  influence  has  been  that  of  the 

290 


SURVEY  AND  OUTLOOK 

leaven  in  the  lump  rather  than  of  outward  obser- 
vation. The  majority  of  churches  which  bear 
the  Congregational  name  are  only  partly  self- 
supporting,  but  there  are  several  whose  member- 
ship presents  a  very  high  average  of  intelligence, 
and  are  not  only  self-supporting,  but  are  exercis- 
ing the  grace  of  Christian  benevolence  and  serv- 
ice in  behalf  of  missions  both  at  home  and  in  for- 
eign lands.  The  next  generation  will  see  the 
negro  churches  of  the  South  exerting  a  stronger 
religious  and  moral  influence  upon  the  negro  race 
than  they  are  visibly  doing  to-day. 

Our  brethren  of  other  communions  found  a 
natural  constituency  among  the  negro  people  who 
bore  their  denominational  name,  and  who  only 
needed  to  be  brought  into  an  enlightened  appre- 
ciation of  its  meaning.  The  Association  did  not. 
The  Congregational  name  was  new,  and  by  the 
.great  multitude  interpreted  as  a  new  religion. 
Nevertheless,  more  than  two  hundred  Congrega- 
tional churches  live  to  plead  for  an  ethical  reli- 
gion, and  for  a  Christianity  which  means  purity 
and  character.  Intelligent  preachers  have  dis- 
placed the  ignorant  and  boisterous,  and  the  gos- 
pel, proclaimed  by  ministers  whose  minds  have 
been  enlarged  by  the  discipline  of  the  schools  and 
expanded  by  a  knowledge  of  the  world's  life  and 
thought,  is  doing  much   towards  an  intelligent 

291 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

apprehension  of  Christianity  and  the  significance 
of  the  ministry  of  Christ.  A  large  part  of  the 
justification  of  our  church  life  among  the  negro 
people  is  in  its  leavening  influence  in  other  de- 
nominations, and  in  their  steadfast  example  for 
purity  and  integrity. 

Looking  backward,  then,  for  sixty  years,  the 
Association  can  take  up  the  song  of  the  Psalmist 
who  in  reviewing  the  past  of  his  people,  and 
recognizing  the  good  hand  of  God,  was  impelled 
to  say,  "  He  led  them  forth  by  the  right  way." 
It  was  in  the  current  of  God's  gracious  providence 
that  the  Association  was  brought  into  life.  Its 
early  years  of  struggle  and  ofttimes  of  apparent 
defeat  were  the  days  of  its  education  and  testing. 
When  the  fiery  trial  of  war  came,  the  accumulated 
strength  of  a  patient  overcoming  was  a  posses- 
sion that  enabled  it  to  take  up  the  great  work  of 
the  redemption  of  a  race  without  hesitation  or 
delay.  Since  that  time  the  providence  of  God 
has  been  a  continuous  providence,  and  if  the  work 
of  redemption  to  any  seems  to  have  moved  for- 
ward less  rapidly  than  they  hoped,  we  may  re- 
member that  the  logic  of  evolution  is  not  less  con- 
clusive for  reasoning  slowly.  What  God  in  his 
purposes  may  have  in  store  for  the  people  whom 
his  providence  brought  from  the  jungles  of 
Africa  and  whom  his   providence  emancipated, 

292 


SURVEY  AND  OUTLOOK 

we  cannot  know  until  his  providence  shall  have 
ripened.  This  much  we  have  learned,  that  God 
has  overturned  the  purposes  of  man. 

When  men  proposed  to  make  the  chains  of  the 
enslaved  stronger,  God  snapped  them.  Enough 
has  already  been  concluded  to  give  us  a  pledge 
of  God's  purposes  that  he  intends  this  people  at 
least  to  be  really  and  truly  free,  and  to  have  their 
own  opportunity  for  manhood  and  womanhood. 
That  which  has  been  settled  in  heaven  will  not  be 
unsettled  on  earth.  On  man's  part  possession 
must  wait  upon  preparedness.  It  is  a  salvation 
which  must  be  worked  out  with  fear  and  trem- 
bling. As  to  time,  this  salvation  will  move  on 
with  the  movement  of  Christianity  and  the  power 
of  Christian  faith  in  our  land.  Those  who  are 
working  together  with  God  are  engaged  in  that 
which  is  assured.  There  is  no  uncertainty  as  to 
the  final  result.  There  may  be  opportunities,  hin- 
drances, and  what  to  us  are  discouraging  delays, 
but  He  who  came  to  "  bring  forth  judgment  unto 
truth  shall  not  fail  nor  be  discouraged." 

With  the  same  faith,  fortified  by  the  fact  that 
God  has  been  mindful  of  us  in  our  mission  for 
the  children  of  slavery,  we  apply  ourselves  to  the 
appeals  of  our  brethren  of  the  Indian  tribes  on 
the  reservations  of  the  West,  to  the  Chinese  and 
Japanese  thronging  our  ports  on  the  Pacific,  to 

293 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

the  neglected  souls,  dwellers  in  our  insular  pos- 
sessions, to  the  poor  and  degraded  Eskimos  of 
the  North.  To  the  needy  peoples  under  the  shel- 
ter of  the  flag  of  our  country  God  has  called  the 
Association  with  an  unmistakable  voice.  In  the 
light  of  our  experience  the  way  before  us  is 
plain.  Our  commission  to  preach  the  gospel  to 
the  poor,  and  to  heal  the  broken-hearted,  to 
preach  deliverance  to  the  captive,  and  recovery 
of  sight  to  the  blind,  remains  the  same  as  afore- 
time. We  may  well  keep  on  believing  in  the 
certainty  of  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  re- 
joicing that  "  all  things  are  given  unto  his  hand." 


294 


XV 

IN  NORTHERN  ALASKA,  PORTO  RICO, 
HAWAII 


Northern  Alaska :  —  Arrival  of  two  missionaries  at 
Cape  Prince  of  Wales  in  Northern  Alaska,  July  4,  1890. 

—  Mr.  Thornton  and  Mr.  Lopp.  —  A  dwelling-house 
erected  and  also  a  school  building.  —  Condition  of  the 
Eskimos.  —  The  introduction  of  reindeer  by  Dr.  Sheldon 
Jackson.  —  Marriage  of  Mr.  Thornton  and  also  of  Mr. 
Lopp.  —  The  murder  of  Mr.  Thornton  in  August,  1891. 

—  The  rescue  of  sailors  by  the  heroic  service  of  Mr. 
Lopp.  —  The  methods  of  reindeer  administration.  —  The 
result  of  fourteen  years'  missionary  ministry.  —  One  hun- 
dred church-members,  one  mission  school.  —  The  pres- 
ent condition  of  the  Eskimos.  —  A  new  order  of  life. 

Porto  Rico :  —  Condition  of  the  Island  when  visited  by 
the  officers  of  the  Association.  —  Work  begun.  —  Schools 
at  Lares  and  Santurce.  —  Evangelistic  work.  —  Transfer 
of  school  at  Lares  to  the  Presbyterian  Mission.  —  School 
at  Santurce  takes  name  of  "  Blanche  Kellogg  Institute." 

—  Evangelistic  work  in  Fajardo. —  Church  edifices  erected. 

—  Six  churches  organized.  —  Great  encouragements. 

Hawaii :  —  Withdrawal  of  American  Board.  —  Incom- 
ing of  foreigners  from  Asia.  —  Mission  taken  by  the  As- 
sociation. —  The  urgent  appeal  of  the  President  of  the 
Association. 


XV 

IN   NORTHERN   ALASKA,   PORTO   RICO, 
HAWAII 

NORTHERN  ALASKA 

IN  the  summer  of  1890  two  young  men  at  the 
suggestion  of  Dr.  Sheldon  Jackson  and  at 
the  call  of  The  American  Missionary  Associ- 
ation, left  San  Francisco  on  a  whaling  vessel  to 
establish  a  new  mission  among  the  Eskimos  in 
Northern  Alaska.  Mr.  Thornton  was  from  Vir- 
ginia and  Mr.  Lopp  from  Indiana.  On  the  fourth 
of  July  they  arrived  at  Cape  Prince  of  Wales,  the 
farthest  western  point  on  the  North  American 
continent.  They  knew  nothing  of  the  people,  who 
had  been  described  as  a  savage  and  hostile  race. 
Within  ten  days  they  had  so  far  put  together  the 
building  which  they  had  brought  with  them  that 
they  could  shelter  themselves.  The  vessel  sailed 
away,  and  they  were  then  left  in  a  settlement  of 
about  five  hundred  Eskimos.  Another  frame 
building  was  soon  erected  for  a  school. 

The  natives  had  never  before  seen  a  house,  and 
began  hammering  away  at  the  doors  and  win- 

297 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

dows,  for  they  had  no  idea  that  they  should  be 
kept  out.  The  missionaries,  by  means  of  the  few 
words  they  had  learned,  and  by  signs,  did  their 
best  to  pacify  them.  They  continued,  however, 
to  batter  at  the  doors  for  several  days,  but  this 
was  found  to  be  simply  a  matter  of  curiosity.  The 
Eskimos  were  really  disposed  to  be  friendly  in- 
stead of  being  hostile.  Within  a  short  time  the 
missionaries  had  no  fears  of  violence  from  them, 
and  soon  they  had  gathered  a  school  of  some 
sixty  pupils.  They  found  the  people  with  only 
their  spoken  language  and  with  no  positive 
ideas  of  God  or  of  a  future  life,  and  no  religious 
observances. 

The  only  danger  from  Eskimos  was  due  to 
their  intoxication  when  they  could  barter  skins 
for  whisky  with  sailors  from  our  ships.  When 
under  the  influence  of  drink  the  people  became 
boisterous  and  rude  and  sometimes  violent,  and 
there  were  stormy  times.  "  We  were  determined, 
however,"  wrote  the  missionaries,  "  not  to  let 
the  natives  see  that  we  were  afraid  of  them;  so 
we  taught  our  school,  took  our  exercise,  and  went 
hunting  our  fresh  meat  as  usual,  finding  it  much 
more  tolerable  to  take  some  risks  than  worry 
ourselves  with  constant  thoughts  of  danger." 
Gradually  the  natives,  as  they  came  to  under- 
stand the  teachers,  behaved  more  peaceably. 

298 


IN   NORTHERN   ALASKA 

During  the  autumn  the  troubles  of  the  mis- 
sionaries were  complicated  by  a  terrible  epidemic 
of  pneumonia  which  carried  off  many  of  the 
people.  The  superstitious  Eskimos  attributed 
this  epidemic  to  the  presence  of  strange  mission- 
aries. It  was  really  due  to  a  cold  west  storm 
which  came  on  as  the  people  were  preparing  to 
move  from  their  summer  tents  to  their  under- 
ground houses  for  the  winter. 

The  mission  prospered,  nevertheless,  and  the 
school  was  largely  increased  in  numbers,  despite 
annoyances  by  children  and  adults  clambering 
on  the  roof  of  the  house,  knocking  on  the  walls 
and  yelling  at  the  windows.  When  it  was  found 
that  these  disturbances  could  be  much  reduced 
by  suspending  the  school  for  a  few  days,  good 
order  was  restored. 

As  soon  as  the  missionaries  had  attained  suffi- 
cient knowledge  of  the  language  they  began 
specific  religious  services.  They  found  that  the 
natives  believed,  in  a  vague  way,  in  good  and  evil 
spirits  —  about  as  children  believe  in  ghosts  — 
but  they  proved  to  be  receptive  of  the  binding 
obligations  of  truthfulness,  honesty,  and  other 
Christian  virtues. 

The  natives  were  living  ten  months  of  the  year 
in  underground  houses,  often  damp,  always  ill- 
ventilated    and    ill-lighted,    but    their    open-air 

299 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

exercise  in  hunting  and  fishing  kept  them,  upon 
the  whole,  stout  and  hardy  and  healthy.  With- 
out chairs  or  tables,  they  ate  with  their  fingers 
from  wooden  dishes,  sitting  on  the  floor.  Their 
cooking  consisted  in  boiling  alone,  without  other 
condiment  than  a  little  sea-water.  Their  dress 
was  mainly  of  deerskins  and  sealskins.  Inasmuch 
as  these  could  not  be  washed,  they  were  always 
infested  with  vermin. 

The  missionaries  early  undertook  to  introduce 
houses  made  with  drift-logs,  and  to  improve  the 
condition  of  the  people  by  bringing  better  appli- 
ances for  fishing  and  hunting  which  secured  their 
livelihood.  They  dressed  themselves  in  seal- 
skins and  deerskins  in  the  Eskimo  way,  and 
really  suffered  but  little  more  from  the  cold  than 
when  at  home.  Hunting  with  the  natives,  they 
found  them  to  be  persevering  and  courageous. 

In  1892  Dr.  Sheldon  Jackson  with  statesman- 
like foresight  secured  an  appropriation  for  intro- 
ducing reindeer  from  Siberia  into  Alaska  as  a 
food  supply  and  a  means  of  enabling  the  natives 
to  become  more  and  more  a  pastoral  people.  This 
nearly  seemed  to  be  the  only  hope  of  their  con- 
tinued existence,  for  supplies  of  food  were  not 
only  precarious  but  also  decreasing.  The  intro- 
duction of  reindeer  by  Dr.  Jackson  was  a  pro- 
phetic movement  for  the  civilization  of  the  Eski- 

300 


IN   NORTHERN   ALASKA 

mos.  The  wisdom  of  this  action  cannot  be  too 
highly  appreciated.  It  has  not  only  brought  them 
better  food  and  more  of  it,  but  has  led  to  new 
ideas  of  industrial  life.  Our  mission  has  found 
large  value  in  many  ways  in  the  reindeer  herds. 
At  the  present  time  there  are  more  than  five  thou- 
sand reindeer  distributed  in  various  centers  in 
Alaska.  The  largest  herd  in  Alaska  is  in  charge 
of  the  mission  of  The  American  Missionary  Asso- 
ciation at  Cape  Prince  of  Wales. 

In  1892  our  missionaries  reported  a  slow  but 
unmistakable  growth  among  the  Eskimos  in  the 
apprehension  of  civilized  ideas  and  of  godliness. 
The  Sunday  church  services  were  well  attended. 
In  short,  the  old  superstitions  were  slowly  be- 
ginning to  give  way.  The  idea  that  the  school 
bell  frightened  away  the  seals  was  put  aside.  The 
chief  magic  doctor,  who  stabbed  himself  in  order 
to  secure  a  good  whaling  season,  found  less  con- 
fidence on  the  part  of  the  people. 

On  August  19  of  the  next  year  Mr.  Thornton 
—  who  in  the  meantime  had  returned  to  New 
York,  married,  and  taken  his  wife  to  the  mission 
station,  as  had  also  Mr.  Lopp  —  was  awakened 
about  midnight  by  loud  raps  at  the  door.  Going 
to  the  door  with  the  idea  that  some  one  was  sick 
and  needed  medicine,  he  was  shot  dead  by  three 
natives,    who   were   probably   crazed   by   drink. 

301 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

Mrs.  Thornton  wrote  afterwards :  "  We  did  not 
fear  the  people  when  they  were  sober,  but  when 
they  were  drunk  we  felt  the  peril."  In  the  morn- 
ing the  friendly  Eskimos  came  and  lifted  the  body 
of  her  murdered  husband  to  a  couch,  and  then 
carried  the  terrible  news  to  the  settlement.  The 
natives  at  once  went  out,  hunted  down  the  mur- 
derers, killed  them,  and  dragged  their  bodies  up 
to  the  house,  insisting  that  Mrs.  Thornton  should 
come  out  and  look  at  them  and  know  that  they 
were  punished.  There  was  great  mourning  in 
the  village.  Nearly  the  whole  village  came  to 
the  door.  "  You  need  not  be  afraid.  We  are 
friends,  we  will  not  hurt  you,"  they  said. 

After  this  tragedy  Mrs.  Thornton  returned 
home  to  this  country,  and  Mr.  Lopp  with  his 
family  continued  in  successful  charge  of  the 
mission. 

One  of  the  most  noteworthy  events  in  the  his- 
tory of  this  mission  was  the  heroic  service  of 
Mr.  Lopp  in  the  rescue  of  three  or  four  hundred 
sailors  at  Point  Barrow,  where  the  crews  of  eight 
trading  vessels  had  been  frozen  up  in  the  Arctic 
Ocean.  At  the  request  of  the  government  Mr. 
Lopp  undertook  to  drive  over  the  wilderness  of 
ice  the  mission  reindeer  herd  seven  hundred  miles 
for  the  rescue  of  the  ice-imprisoned  seamen.  It 
was  a  perilous  journey,  and  even  the  Eskimos 

302 


IN   NORTHERN   ALASKA 

predicted  he  could  never  reach  his  destination. 
"  It  was  a  great  trial,"  he  wrote,  "  but  we  knew 
we  would  be  remembered  at  the  weekly  prayer- 
meeting  of  our  Eskimo  Christians."  He  was 
successful  in  his  endeavor,  and  later  on  the  gov- 
ernment renewed  the  mission  herd  to  its  former 
number. 

The  method  of  the  administration  of  the  rein- 
deer herd  has  been  to  give  yearly  a  certain 
number  of  the  deer  to  those  Eskimos  who  are 
sufficiently  trained  to  take  care  of  them.  This 
furnishes  to  them  and  their  associate  friends  a 
supply  for  food,  for  service  and  clothing.  There 
are  now  nine  separate  groups  owned  by  the  Eski- 
mos amounting  to  nearly  one  thousand  deer,  while 
nearly  six  hundred  other  deer  still  remain  in 
direct  charge  of  the  mission.  This  feature  has 
contributed  largely  to  the  improvement  of  the 
people. 

As  a  result  of  this  fourteen  years'  missionary 
ministry,  there  was  in  1904  at  the  Cape  a  practi- 
cally transformed  community.  These  Eskimos 
are  already  known  all  along  the  coast  for  their 
morals,  industry,  and  a  new  spirit  of  enterprise. 
Many  of  them  are  faithful  Christians.  About 
one  hundred  are  church-members.  The  mission 
school  numbers  one  hundred  pupils.  The  story 
of  the  mission  is  a  striking  illustration  of  the  en- 

3°3 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

lightening  and  saving  power  of  the  gospel.  A 
printing-press  given  by  the  "  Boys'  Missionary 
Society  "  of  the  Church  of  the  Pilgrims,  Brook- 
lyn, has  been  found  very  useful,  and  some  of  the 
schoolboys  have  not  only  learned  to  set  type  but 
have  made  some  rude  woodcuts  which  indicate 
an  undeveloped  talent  in  this  line. 

In  1905  the  Alaska  Mission  at  Cape  Prince  of 
Wales  came  under  the  care  of  Rev.  James  F. 
Cross,  who  had  a  large  previous  experience  in 
Indian  work  upon  the  western  reservations.  He 
was  greatly  impressed  with  the  importance  of  the 
work  and  of  the  opportunity  for  it.  He  found 
that  with  the  coming  of  the  mission,  the  schools, 
and  the  court,  the  degradation  of  women  had 
nearly  ceased ;  that  with  the  growing  market  for 
native  products,  the  eager  spirit  of  the  native  for 
religious  instruction,  the  prospect  and  hope  for 
the  native  Alaskan  is  bright.  A  new  order  of  life 
has  begun  in  the  knowledge  and  acceptance  of 
American  civilization  and  Christianity.  The  visit 
of  Dr.  Jackson  more  than  eighteen  years  ago, 
when  he  introduced  to  The  American  Missionary 
Association  the  proposition  that  it  should  enter 
upon  missionary  work  at  Cape  Prince  of  Wales, 
was  certainly  eventful.  The  great  good  that  has 
resulted  from  this  visit  and  from  his  urgency  in 
behalf  of  the  neglected,  uncivilized,  and  benighted 

3°4 


IN   PORTO  RICO 

Eskimos  in  this  mission  alone,  must  cause  him  to 
be  regarded  by  these  rapidly  developing  people  as 
their  first  and  greatest  benefactor. 

The  successor  of  Mr.  Cross  found  the  most 
northern  Congregational  church  in  the  world 
with  a  membership  numbering  two  hundred  and 
sixteen  people,  who  are  living  consistent  Chris- 
tian lives.  The  younger  people  of  Wales  have 
taken  on  our  own  language  with  the  gospel,  and 
the  mission  was  never  more  rewarding  or  even 
promising  than  it  is  to-day.  History  does  not 
give  us  many  such  wonderful  changes  in  conduct 
and  character  as  is  seen  in  this  mission  station 
in  the  short  period  of  eighteen  years. 

PORTO   RICO 

When  Porto  Rico  came  into  the  family  of  the 
United  States,  the  Association  was  the  first  to 
make  anything  like  a  thorough  study  of  the 
islands  in  missionary  interests.  It  was  then  in 
the  first  months  of  military  rule  under  General 
Henry,  an  able  administrator,  earnest  for  civil 
improvements,  and  a  Christian  man  who  honored 
the  Christian  faith. 

We  found  a  beautiful  tropical  country  with 
vegetation  abundant  and  varied,  and  with  a  soil 
rich  beyond  any  signs  of  exhaustion.    Writh  prac- 

305 


AMERICAN    MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

tically  one  season  of  the  year  for  seed-time  and 
harvest,  the  sowing  and  reaping  could  be  done  at 
pleasure.  We  found  a  population  of  nearly  a 
million  classified  in  round  numbers  as  500,000 
whites,  400,000  colored  —  made  up  of  a  mixture 
of  white,  Indian,  and  negro  blood  —  and  100,000 
pure  negroes.  Of  this  million  of  people  it  was 
estimated  that  800,000  were  in  absolute  illiteracy, 
without  knowledge  beyond  that  of  their  own  huts. 
One-tenth  of  the  fraction  who  could  read  had  not 
advanced  to  where  they  were  able  to  write.  In 
every  town  there  were  those  who  were  educated 
and  who  held  the  responsible  local  positions,  but 
who  had  entirely  failed  to  realize  any  responsi- 
bility for  this  mass  of  ignorance  around  them. 

We  found  churches  but  no  people  in  them.  The 
Church  of  Spain,  which  for  four  hundred  years 
had  unhindered  opportunity  with  the  patronage 
of  the  State,  so  grievously  failed  to  interpret 
Christianity  that  it  had  produced  this  fruitage. 
The  mental  and  spiritual  poverty  were  paralleled 
in  the  low-down  material  condition  of  the  great 
body  of  the  people. 

With  a  climate  healthful  and  soil  of  great  nat- 
ural productiveness,  it  would  seem  that  the 
people  ought  to  enjoy  more  than  the  ordinary 
blessings  of  life  and  to  be  easily  living  in  com- 
fort.   Instead,  their  physical  condition,  like  their 

306 


IN   PORTO   RICO 

moral  state,  was  found  to  be  pitiful  beyond 
expression. 

When  this  degradation  came  to  the  considera- 
tion of  the  Association,  the  duty  appeared  to  be 
plain,  since  this  people  now  belonged  to  us  and 
since  we  belonged  to  them,  that  we  must  seek 
their  salvation.  Such  mental  and  spiritual  degra- 
dation must  not  continue. 

In  accordance  with  this  sense  of  duty,  two 
schools  each  with  several  teachers  were  at  once 
opened  —  one  in  the  center  of  the  island  at  Lares 
and  one  next  the  capital  —  on  the  military  road 
in  Santurce.  This  action  was  followed  as  speedily 
as  possible  by  the  beginnings  of  a  purely  evangel- 
istic work  looking  forward  to  the  organization 
of  churches  which  should  stand  for  the  truth  and 
purity  of  Christian  life. 

After  years  of  successful  work  at  Lares,  when 
the  government  had  opened  an  excellent  school  in 
the  village,  the  same  necessity  did  not  seem  to  exist 
for  our  presence  there  in  an  educational  form, 
and  as  our  brethren  of  the  Presbyterian  Church 
were  willing  to  assume  the  responsibility  for  evan- 
gelistic work  at  Lares  the  Association  transferred 
its  interests  to  the  eastern  portion  of  the  island. 

The  school  at  Santurce  has  been  since  this  early 
beginning  a  center  of  earnest  Christian  influ- 
ence.    With  the  Bible  as  one  of  the  text-books, 

307 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

it  has  put  the  lessons  of  Christianity  into  the  re- 
ceptive life  of  young  people  year  by  year,  and 
has  been  a  blessed  ministration  of  the  gospel  in 
the  fidelities  of  Christian  teachers.  Plans  have 
already  been  made  for  an  enlarged  development 
of  this  school  under  the  name  of  "  Blanche  Kel- 
logg Institute,"  when,  with  increased  facilities 
for  extended  and  advanced  work,  we  hope  to 
make  a  large  central  institution  as  a  worthy  ex- 
pression of  our  faith  and  love. 

The  evangelistic  work  of  the  Association,  apart 
from  that  which  takes  the  educational  form,  has 
been  directed  from  Fajardo,  a  seaport  upon  the 
eastern  coast.  This  has  been  crowned  with  the 
favor  of  God.  Two  tasteful  and  commodious 
church  edifices  have  been  erected.  The  pastor 
at  Fajardo  rejoices  in  the  membership  of  a  hun- 
dred and  twenty-five  who  have  been  hopefully 
converted.  A  church  at  Humacao,  housed  in  a 
fine  building,  numbers  one  hundred  and  seven 
members  who  have  come  out  of  great  darkness 
into  the  light  of  the  gospel.  In  all  six  Congrega- 
tional churches  have  been  organized  with  four 
hundred  and  thirty  members.  These  are  most 
cheering  figures,  but  they  fail  to  represent  the 
greatness  of  the  blessing  which  has  followed  the 
endeavors  of  our  missionaries.  A  census  has  its 
significance  in  what  it  stands  for,  but  when  we 

308 


IN   HAWAII 

recall  what  the  conversion  of  these  people  means 
—  the  difference  between  a  miserable  Porto  Rico 
shack  and  a  Christian  home,  the  redemption  from 
degradation  to  a  true  Christian  civilization,  and 
the  ideas  of  life  and  duty  which  it  includes  and 
carries  forward  —  the  process  of  numeration  falls 
short  of  the  reality.  What  we  have  to  encour- 
age is  much,  but  as  yet  we  have  only  begun  to 
plow  the  ground  and  sow  the  seed.  In  good  hope 
we  await  the  response  of  the  future  to  the  ques- 
tion, "  What  shall  the  harvest  be?  " 

HAWAII 

Another  outpost  of  civilization  is  Hawaii.  The 
American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign 
Missions  occupied  the  Sandwich  Islands  as  its 
first  field  of  missionary  labor  in  1819.  The  story 
of  the  heroism  and  wonderful  work  of  the  early 
missionaries  is  one  of  the  brightest  pages  in 
Christian  achievement. 

Upon  the  withdrawal  of  the  American  Board, 
the  "  Hawaiian  Evangelical  Association "  ap- 
pealed to  The  American  Missionary  Association 
for  aid  in  carrying  on  the  mission  work  in  these 
islands.  While  the  Hawaiians  have  been  greatly 
reduced  in  numbers,  the  Chinese,  Japanese,  and 
Koreans  have  recently  come  in  by  tens  of  thou- 

3°9 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

sands.  As  the  native  race  is  dying  out,  the  Ori- 
entals with  their  paganism  have  hurried  in.  And 
since  the  islands  are  now  a  part  of  our  country, 
these  foreigners  from  Asia  have  for  a  time  at 
least  come  to  be  members  of  our  national  family. 
For  a  time  we  say;  we  know  that  in  time  many 
of  them  will  return  to  their  former  homes.  They 
are  with  us  now,  five  thousand  miles  nearer  than 
the  lands  from  which  they  have  come. 

These  peoples  are  ready  for  the  gospel.  Alert 
for  our  civilization,  they  are  inquiring  for  the 
reasons  and  motives  of  our  religious  life.  They 
will  make  good  foreign  missionaries  if  we  suc- 
ceed in  leading  them  to  Christ.  The  call  to  the 
Association  to  aid  in  this  work  seemed  to  come 
with  the  imperative  of  God's  own  appointment. 
In  the  words  of  the  President  of  the  Association, 
"  Whatever  the  cry  from  other  lands,  for  a  little 
time  at  least,  this  appeal  of  Hawaii  should  have 
no  second  place  with  those  who  desire  the  evan- 
gelization of  the  world."  Let  us  hope  that  a 
great  company  of  Chinese,  Japanese,  and  Kore- 
ans will  carry  with  them  to  the  Orient  the  gospel 
and  its  blessings  which  they  shall  receive  at  our 
hands. 


310 


XVI 
"THE  JUST   SHALL   LIVE  BY  FAITH" 


XVI 
"THE   JUST    SHALL   LIVE   BY    FAITH" 

THE  group  of  men  who  represented  the 
Association  at  its  beginning  organized 
themselves  for  the  heroic  work  before 
them  with  the  following  Executive  Committee: 

Arthur  Tappan  S.  E.  Cornish 

Theo.  S.  Wright  William  H.  Pillow 

Simeon  S.  Jocelyn  William  E.  Whiting 

Amos  A.  Phelps  J.  W.  C.  Pennington 

Charles  B.  Ray  Josiah  Brewer 

J.  R.  Johnson  Edward  Weed 

Of  these  the  most  noted  was  Arthur  Tappan, 
a  sketch  of  whose  life  has  been  given  in  a  pre- 
vious chapter.  Two  of  these  original  members 
belonged  to  the  negro  race.  Josiah  Brewer,  the 
father  of  the  honored  Associate  Justice  Brewer 
of  the  United  States  Supreme  Court,  brought 
with  him  both  missionary  experience  and  large 
personal  influence.  He  served  on  the  Board  for 
seventeen  years.  Only  one,  W.  E.  Whiting,  who 
remained  on  the  Committee  for  thirty-six  years, 
was  a  member  of  the  original  company  at  the 
time  of  the  Civil  War. 

3*3 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

During  the  war,  among  those  who  shaped  the 
history  of  the  Association  as  its  Executive  Com- 
mittee were  Rev.  William  B.  Brown,  d.d.,  1855— 
1880,  and  Rev.  John  Milton  Holmes,  1 862-1 869. 
At  this  time  the  Corresponding  Secretaries  and 
Field  Secretaries  were  members  of  the  Executive 
Committee  and  were  largely  responsible  both 
for  the  plans  of  the  work  and  for  their  execution. 
They  had  personal  acquaintance  with  existing 
conditions  and  had  their  facts  at  first  hand.  They 
were  familiar  with  the  South,  and  theirs  was  the 
chief  influence  both  in  respect  to  the  location  of 
the  institutions  and  the  direction  of  their  policies. 
Of  prominent  names  on  the  Executive  Committee 
since,  there  were  Hon.  Samuel  Holmes,  who 
served  with  great  faithfulness  and  constancy  of 
devotion  for  thirty-three  years;  General  O.  O. 
Howard;  General  Clinton  B.  Fisk,  1 875-1890; 
Mr.  Charles  L.  Mead,  1875-1898;  Dr.  Lyman 
Abbott  for  ten  years ;  Dr.  A.  J.  Lyman,  fourteen 
years;  Dr.  J.  W.  Cooper,  sixteen  years;  Dr. 
Elijah  Horr,  twelve  years,  and  Dr.  Nehemiah 
Boynton,  ten  years.  Of  the  present  members 
those  longest  in  service  are  Mr.  Charles  A.  Hull, 
twenty-five  years,  and  for  several  years  chair- 
man of  the  Committee;  Dr.  William  H.  Ward, 
twenty-seven  years;  Dr.  L.  C.  Warner,  sixteen 
years,  and  Dr.  Lewellyn  Pratt,  eleven  years. 

3i4 


"THE   JUST   SHALL   LIVE   BY   FAITH" 

It  will  be  seen  that  while  frequent  changes  have 
occurred  in  the  membership  of  the  Committee 
a  historic  continuity  has  been  preserved  which  is 
exceedingly  important  in  view  of  the  many  prob- 
lems that  have  confronted  the  Association. 

The  duties  of  the  Executive  Committee,  which 
holds  its  regular  meetings  on  the  second  Tuesday 
of  each  month,  call  for  constant  and  most  careful 
attention.  To  a  "  Committee  on  Finance  "  is  en- 
trusted the  special  regard  for  the  property  of  the 
Association,  both  land  and  buildings,  and  of  all 
the  trusts  in  its  hands.  The  legacies,  endow- 
ments, investments,  and  the  like  are  under  their 
special  oversight  and  direction  when  once  passed 
upon  by  the  General  Committee. 

A  "  Committee  on  Missions  "  hears  the  reports 
from  the  respective  fields,  decides  upon  recom- 
mendations for  their  varied  claims  and  necessi- 
ties, and  in  general  furthers  the  efficiency  and 
economy  of  the  missionary  work  of  the  Associa- 
tion, whether  it  be  in  churches  or  schools.  This 
is  subject  to  the  supervision  and  direction  of  the 
Executive  Committee.  A  "  Committee  on  Sup- 
port "  considers  methods  of  promoting  a  mis- 
sionary spirit  throughout  the  churches  and  of 
securing  funds  for  the  support  of  the  work  and 
for  the  pressing  demands  for  its  enlargement. 
Each  of  these  committees  appoints  its  own  meet- 

3i5 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

ings  and  keeps  its  own  book  to  record  its  proceed- 
ings, the  minutes  of  which  are  read  at  the  regular 
meetings  of  the  Executive  Committee;  and  each 
of  them  is  in  regular  consultation  with  the  Cor- 
responding Secretaries  whose  information  and 
advice  is  sought  on  all  questions  that  present 
themselves  to  the  Association. 

Additionally  a  special  "  Committee  on  Appro- 
priation "  has  for  its  duty  the  consideration  of 
the  work  of  the  Association  and  the  presentation 
to  the  Executive  Committee  of  a  detailed  state- 
ment of  the  amounts  necessary  for  each  depart- 
ment of  the  work,  and  the  recommendation  as  to 
the  amounts  which  should  be  appropriated  for 
the  ensuing  fiscal  year. 

The  Corresponding  Secretaries,  previous  to 
changes  which  came  by  the  outbreak  of  the  Civil 
War,  were  Rev.  George  Whipple,  d.d.,  from 
1847  to  1876,  and  Rev.  S.  S.  Jocelyn,  from  1853 
to  1863.  In  1864  Rev.  M.  E.  Strieby,  d.d.,  suc- 
ceeded Mr.  Jocelyn  and  continued  until  1895, 
when  he  was  appointed  "  Honorary  Secretary," 
which  office  he  held  until  his  death.  Rev. 
J.  R.  Shipherd  served  for  two  years,  from 
1866;  and  Rev.  W.  W.  Patton,  d.d.,  for  two 
years  from  1868.  Rev.  James  Powell,  d.d.,  who 
had  served  both  as  District  Secretary  and  As- 
sociate   Corresponding    Secretary,    was    Corre- 

316 


"THE   JUST   SHALL   LIVE   BY   FAITH" 

sponding  Secretary  in  1887  and  died  in  the  same 
year.  Rev.  A.  F.  Beard,  d.d.,  who  was  called 
from  the  American  Church  in  Paris,  France,  to 
be  Associate  Corresponding  Secretary  in  1884, 
was  elected  Corresponding  Secretary  in  1887. 
After  a  service  of  eighteen  years  in  this  capacity, 
Dr.  Beard  was  elected  "  Honorary  Secretary  and 
Editor."  Rev.  Frank  P.  Woodbury,  d.d.,  was 
Corresponding  Secretary  from  1890  to  1905. 
Rev.  C.  J.  Ryder,  d.d.,  who  was  Assistant  Cor- 
responding Secretary  in  1892,  became  a  Corre- 
sponding Secretary  in  1895.  Rev.  James  W. 
Cooper,  d.d.,  was  elected  Senior  Corresponding 
Secretary  in  1903. 

The  duties  of  these  officers  named  above  have 
been  the  charge  and  direction  of  the  work  of  the 
Association  under  the  Executive  Committee. 
Responsible  for  plans  and  suggestions,  for  facts 
and  intelligence  from  the  varied  institutions  in 
the  field;  for  general  watch  and  care  of  every 
interest  as  well  as  for  the  proper  presentation 
of  these  interests  to  the  churches  and  the  public, 
the  position  is  one  of  unceasing  thought  and 
anxiety. 

The  treasury  is  a  department  the  importance 
of  which  every  one  can  realize,  but  which  those 
who  have  not  particularly  informed  themselves 
can  but  partially  appreciate.    To  receive  all  money 

3i7 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

contributed  or  entrusted  to  the  Association,  and 
to  keep  clear  and  accurate  accounts  of  sums  re- 
ceived and  expended,  were  this  all  its  functions, 
would  be  comparatively  easy.  The  correspond- 
ence immediately  relating  to  this  department  is 
large  and  calls  for  constant  consideration.  It  in- 
volves not  simply  the  payment  of  teachers  and 
missionaries,  the  insurance  of  properties  in  very 
many  states,  but  also  the  care  of  all  deeds,  the 
watchful  protection  of  all  endowments  and  in- 
vestments and  estates,  that  no  losses  may  any- 
where occur.  The  books  and  accounts  are  ever 
open  to  the  inspection  of  any  member  of  the 
Executive  Committee  and  are  submitted  month 
by  month  to  the  Finance  Committee  for  their 
examination. 

The  first  Treasurer,  Lewis  Tappan,  served, 
from  1846,  nineteen  years.  He  was  succeeded 
by  Edgar  Ketchum,  who  was  Treasurer  from 
1866  to  1879.  In  l&76  Henry  W.  Hubbard  was 
called  from  Fisk  University  as  Assistant  Treas- 
urer, and  was  appointed  Treasurer  in  1879.  The 
thirty-three  years  of  the  Treasurership  filled  by 
Mr.  Hubbard  have  witnessed  a  good  part  of 
the  development  of  the  Association,  and  there 
is  no  one  at  the  present  time  who  has  an  equal 
memory  of  the  facts  and  incidents  of  the  earlier 
history.    If  fidelity  coupled  with  ability  and  con- 

318 


"THE   JUST   SHALL   LIVE   BY   FAITH" 

stant  loyalty  to  all  the  interests  and  principles  of 
the  Association  call  for  appreciative  record  in 
this  story  of  its  life  and  work  then  this  testimony 
on  the  part  of  the  writer  of  this  history  is  but  a 
partial  recognition  of  difficult  work  well  done. 

Among  those  who  have  linked  the  work  of 
their  lives  with  the  history  of  the  Association  was 
Rev.  Joseph  E.  Roy,  d.d.,  who  for  ten  years  as 
Field  Superintendent  and  eighteen  as  District 
Secretary  at  Chicago,  made  a  deep  impression 
and  exerted  a  wide  influence  in  each  capacity. 
When  he  died  he  was  the  last  of  those  truly  large, 
broad-minded,  wide-visioned  men  who  espoused 
an  unpopular  cause  in  its  beginning  and  conse- 
crated themselves  in  full-hearted  sincerity  and 
without  question  to  the  oppressed  and  to  their 
uplifting.  Dr.  Roy  was  simply  revered  among 
the  colored  people  of  the  South.  He  had  not  only 
their  absolute  confidence,  but  the  abundant  wealth 
of  their  affection  as  a  loving  friend  of  their  race. 
The  influence  of  his  personality  will  not  pass 
away  with  his  earthly  life. 

One  of  the  forces  of  the  Association  from  its 
first  days  has  been  The  American  Missionary. 
Not  a  great  magazine,  it  has  had  its  full  share 
of  influence  in  developing  and  holding  the  special 
constituency  which  has  supported  the  work. 
Upon  its  pages  are  the  stories  of  its  hopes  and 

3i9 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

fears,  its  struggles  and  its  successes.  Those  who 
have  welcomed  it  to  their  homes  have  been  the 
steadfast  friends  of  all  that  the  Association  rep- 
resents. These  are  they  whose  constant  flow  of 
benevolence  has  made  the  columns  of  figures 
in  the  financial  reports  from  month  to  month 
and  year  to  year  swell  into  the  great  total  of  mil- 
lions of  dollars  which  have  gone  into  the  lives  and 
characters  of  millions  of  people.  This  transmu- 
tation of  gold  into  character  in  human  life  has  in 
part  been  effected  by  The  American  Mission- 
ary, which  has  always  been  a  chief  agency  in 
spreading  the  intelligence  of  its  work,  thus  inter- 
esting those  who  have  contributed,  not  money 
only,  but  themselves,  their  sons  and  daughters 
for  the  service  of  the  Association  in  its  mission 
to  the  lowly  and  the  needy.  A  distinguished 
negro,  who  is  not  in  denominational  affiliation 
with  us,  writing  upon  "  The  Progress  and  Devel- 
opment of  the  Colored  People,"  says: 

Among  the  forces  that  have  helped  to  make  this 
progress  possible  I  place  the  kindly  sympathy  that  has 
been  manifested  by  our  white  friends.  I  do  not  believe 
that  in  the  history  of  the  world  there  ever  went  into 
a  needy  field  a  nobler  band  of  men  and  women  than 
those  who  went  into  the  South  at  the  close  of  the  war 
for  work  among  freedmen.  Too  much  emphasis  can- 
not be  placed  upon  the  type  of  white  men  and  women 
with  whom  this  race  first  came  in  contact  in  its  efforts 

320 


JuSliPH    li.    KiiV.    D.D. 


"THE   JUST   SHALL   LIVE    BY  FAITH" 

to  rise,  and  of  those  who  have  largely  had  control  of 
the  great  philanthropic  movements  for  its  uplift.  The 
boys  and  girls,  the  young  men  and  women,  who  came 
in  contact  with  these  early  missionaries  and  teachers, 
can  never  forget  them,  nor  can  the  impressions  made 
upon  them  ever  be  effaced.  The  spirit  of  these  early 
missionaries  and  teachers  survives  in  some  of  the 
men  and  women  who  are  still  laboring  in  the  Southern 
field,  who  are  now  teaching  in  the  schools,  colleges, 
and  universities,  for  which  we  are  profoundly  grateful. 
All  the  great  religious  denominations  of  the  country 
have  had  a  hand  in  this  work  of  development,  but  of 
them  all  the  contribution  made  by  the  American  Mis- 
sionary Association,  in  my  judgment,  has  been  of 
greatest  value.  More  than  any  other  organization 
you  have  recognized  the  manhood  of  the  negro;  and 
in  all  your  dealings  with  him  you  have  more  largely 
than  any  other  organization,  so  far  as  I  know,  treated 
him  as  a  man  and  a  brother;  and  so  you  have  been 
swayed  less  than  any  other  organization,  so  far  as  I 
know,  by  colorphobia;  and  I  believe  of  all  organiza- 
tions that  have  been  working  among  us  as  a  race,  your 
great  Association  has  shown  most  of  the  spirit  of 
what  I  call  true,  genuine  Christianity. 

There  are  some  things  that  the  men  and  women  who 
make  up  the  church  of  Jesus  Christ  ought  to  grapple 
with,  and  one  of  them  is  race  prejudice.  The  reli- 
gious sentiment  of  the  country  has  been  powerless  to 
check  it  because  it  has  never  concerned  itself  very 
much  about  it.  Instead  of  lifting  up  the  standard  for 
the  people,  it  has  been  too  willing  to  follow  the  stand- 
ard which  a  non-Christian  world  has  set  up.     Such 

21  321 


AMERICAN   MISSIONARY  ASSOCIATION 

has  not  been  the  case  with  this  Association.  For 
example,  the  little  periodical  which  you  publish,  The 
American  Missionary.  I  know  of  no  magazine  in 
the  country  in  which  the  negro  question  is  discussed 
more  intelligently,  more  sympathetically,  more  cour- 
ageously, or  on  higher  Christian  principles.  It  is  never 
afraid  to  touch  the  question,  or  to  speak  out  frankly, 
fearlessly  for  the  negro,  not  because  he  is  a  negro, 
but  because  he  is  a  man  and  brother ;  it  never  stops  to 
ask  whether  what  it  is  about  to  say  is  acceptable  to  a 
negro-hating  public  sentiment  or  not ;  its  aim  has  been 
not  to  placate  such  a  sentiment;  not  to  express  itself 
in  such  a  way  as  to  give  no  offense  to  such  a  sentiment, 
thereby  throwing  its  influence  practically  in  favor  of 
such  a  sentiment,  but  to  lift  up  a  standard  for  the 
people  —  a  standard  which  reflects  not  the  spirit  of 
race  hatred,  the  spirit  of  caste,  but  the  spirit  of  Jesus 
Christ.  Wherever  this  magazine  has  gone,  it  has  car- 
ried this  gospel  of  the  fatherhood  of  God  and  the 
brotherhood  of  man ;  it  has  revealed  the  spirit  of  the 
men  who  have  spoken  through  it,  and  it  has  shown  that 
they  were  men  who  fully  believed  in  the  negro  as  a 
man  and  brother. 

Thus  we  have  come  to  the  sixty-second  year  of 
our  missionary  endeavor.  After  having  gradu- 
ated several  institutions  and  churches  into  inde- 
pendence and  self-support,  there  remain  upon  our 
lists  in  the  South  alone,  four  theological  schools, 
four  colleges,  twenty-nine  secondary  institutions, 
seventy-three  schools  of  all  grades,  with  five  hun- 

322 


"THE   JUST  SHALL   LIVE   BY   FAITH*' 

dred  and  sixty  officers  and  teachers,  and  more 
than  fifteen  thousand  pupils  under  our  watch  and 
care.  One  hundred  and  ninety-four  churches 
organized  by  the  Association  have  nearly  twelve 
thousand  church-members.  In  Porto  Rico,  with 
one  noble  central  school,  there  are  numbered  eight 
churches  with  five  hundred  and  fifty-six  church- 
members.  Added  to  this  are  twenty-one  churches 
among  the  North  American  Indians  with  some 
fifteen  hundred  devout  church-members,  and  one 
Normal  and  Training  School  with  eighteen  in- 
structors. The  Eskimo  mission  reports  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-two  members  in  its  church  at  Cape 
Prince  of  Wales.  Significant  additions  have 
been  made  to  our  mission  plants,  —  notably  at 
Fisk,  Tougaloo,  and  Straight  universities,  and 
at  Talladega  College.  Many  of  our  secondary 
schools  have  been  enlarged.  Eight  churches  and 
branch  churches  have  been  organized  among  the 
Chinese  and  Japanese  in  California.  Our  inter- 
est in  Hawaii  has  been  abundantly  rewarded. 

The  year  1908  completes  a  period  of  twenty 
years  since  Daniel  Hand,  in  his  lifetime,  made  to 
the  Association  the  great  gift  of  $1,000,894.25  in 
securities.  There  has  been  added  to  this  fund 
from  time  to  time,  from  the  estate  of  Daniel 
Hand,  the  sum  of  $464,965.00,  making  the  total 
of  the  Daniel  Hand  Educational  Fund  received 

323 


AMERICAN  MISSIONARY   ASSOCIATION 

to  September  30,  1908,  $1,465,859.25.  This  fund 
and  the  income  received  have  been  kept  separate 
and  distinct  from  the  other  funds  of  the  Associa- 
tion, and  the  accounts  have  also  been  as  required 
by  the  terms  and  conditions  of  the  trust.  There 
has  been  collected  as  income  from  this  fund 
during  this  period  of  twenty  years  the  sum  of 
$1,232,180.05,  and  there  has  been  expended  the 
sum  of  $1,229,582.54. 

In  reviewing  this  twenty-year  period  of  the 
Daniel  Hand  Fund,  it  will  be  of  interest  to  note 
that  the  current  receipts  and  endowments  to  the 
Association — exclusive  of  the  Daniel  Hand  Fund 
and  its  income,  and  exclusive  of  income  from  the 
Avery  Fund,  assigned  for  support  of  missionary 
work  in  Africa  —  have  been  $6,928,237.81,  and 
including  the  Daniel  Hand  Fund  and  income  and 
the  income  for  missionary  work  in  Africa,  the 
total  receipts  for  the  twenty  years  have  been 
$10,230,569.87. 

Finally,  the  question  before  us  is  the  same  as 
when  we  began  sixty-two  years  ago.  To  quote 
Secretary  Cooper:  "The  question  before  us  is: 
Whether  the  churches  of  America  have  the  moral 
power  to  meet  the  moral  problems  of  America. 
It  is  the  test  of  our  Christianity.  The  moral  en- 
thusiasm of  the  nation  which  sent  a  million  men 
into  our  Civil  War  to  fight  for  the  freedom  of  the 

324 


"THE   JUST   SHALL   LIVE    BY   FAITH" 

slave,  is  something  utterly  unknown  to  the  young 
men  of  the  present  generation.  It  required  a 
great  national  crisis,  the  precipitation  of  open 
conflict,  all  the  pomp  and  circumstance  of  war,  to 
call  forth  the  moral  heroism,  the  dauntless  cour- 
age, the  supreme  self-sacrifice  of  1861,  when  men 
'  offered  themselves  willingly  among  the  people,' 
and  '  jeoparded  their  lives  even  unto  death  in  the 
high  places  of  the  field.'  Have  we  the  faith  in 
Christ  and  the  enthusiasm  for  humanity  which 
will  inspire  in  us  the  same  heroic  devotion  now? 
Have  we  the  strength  of  purpose,  the  consecra- 
tion, the  love  of  man,  the  impartial  hope,  to  carry 
through  to  a  successful  issue  this  less  dramatic 
but  no  less  serious  or  strenuous  struggle  for 
humanity  to-day?" 


325 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Abbott,  Lyman,  265,  314 

Abolitionist,  17 

Abolition  of  Slavery,  6,  7,  16 

Adams,  John,  6 

Adams,  John  Quincy,  29,  211 

Africa,  38,  48 

Alaska,  in  Northern,  295,  297 

A.  B.  C.  F.  M.,  22,  309 

American  Church,  Paris,  France, 

3i7 
American  Missionary,  The,  319 
Am.  S.  S.  Union,  22 
American  Tract  Society,  22 
Amistad  Captives  and  Committee, 

23,  3°>  42 
Andrews,  George  W.,   D.D.,   178, 

200 
Antislavery  Societies,  6,  11,  15,  19 
Appeal  of  the  Colored  People,  263 
Arctic  Ocean,  302 
Armstrong,  Gen.  S.  C,  125,  128, 

273 

Atlanta,  Ga.,  139 

Atlanta  Theological  Seminary,  278 

Atlanta  University,  159,  160,  274 

Atlanta  University  Board  of  Visi- 
tors, 192 

Avery  Institute,  Charleston,  S.  C, 
139,  160,  167,  180 

Avery,  Rev.  Charles,  45,  115,  116, 
127 

Avery  Station,  Africa,  45 

B 

Bacon,  Leonard,  D.D.,   138,  223, 

224 
Baldwin,  Roger  S.,  29 


Ballard  Normal,  Macon,  Ga.,  141, 
160 

Bangkok,  Siam,  57,  59 

Barnes,  Albert,  115 

Beard,  A.  F.,  D.D.,  317 

Beecher,  Edward,  19 

Bennett,  Prof.  H.  S.,  160 

Berea,  Ky.,  100,  104,  274 

Board  of  Peace  Commissioners,  67 

Boynton,  Nehemiah,  D.D.,  314 

Brainard,  Hon.  Lawrence,  130 

Bradley,  Rev.  D.  B.,  55,  60 

Brave  Women,  232 

Brewer,  Rev.  Josiah,  39,  126,  313 

Brick,  Joseph  Keasbey  Agricul- 
tural, Industrial  and  Normal 
School,  276 

Brick,  Mrs.  Julia  A.,  276 

Brisbane,  W.  H.,  19 

Brooks,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  John  S., 
42,  44 

Brownlow,  Governor,  153 

Brown,  Rev.  William  B.,  314 

Bunyan,  Thomas,  41 

Bureau  of  Women's  Work,  237 

Butler,  Gen.,  and  School,  125 


Canada  Mission,  61 

Cape  Prince  of  Wales,  297,  304 

Carter,  Anson  J.,  41 

Cass  Lake  Station,  Minn.,  66 

Caste  and  Anti-caste,  15,  97,  101, 

102,  229,  230,  239 
Castle  Garden  Meeting,  no 
Caswell,  Rev.  Jesse,  55,  59 
Chase,  Prof.  F.  A.,  161 
Cheyenne  River  Agency,  77 
Chippewa  Agency,  Minn.,  69 


329 


INDEX 


Christian  Students,  201 
Churches,   North  and  South,   12, 

17,  18,  21,  22,  138 
Church  formation  and  work,  172, 

177,  243,  255 
Church  of  Spain,  306 
Clark,  Rev.  S.  M.,  68 
Collins,  Miss  Mary  C,  71,  72,  77, 

78,  81 
Colored    Pupil    in    Williamsburg, 

240 
Color  line  in  Churches,  228 
Commerce  and  Conservatism,  111 
Committee  on  Appropriation,  316 
Committee  on  Finance,  315 
Committee  on  Missions,  315 
Committee  on  Support,  315 
Concentration,  197,  245 
Condit,  Rev.  John,  44 
Conditions     which     created     the 

A.  M.  A.,  3 
Conflicting  thought  in  South,  253, 

263 
Connecticut,  13,  14,  15 
Cooper,   J.    W.,   D.D.,    314,   317, 

324 
Copts  in  Egypt,  61 
Cornish,  S.  E.,  313 
Cotton-gin,  invention  of,  9 
Crandall,  Prudence,     Canterbury, 

Conn.,  13,  14 
Cravath,  E.  M.,  D.D.,   151,  152, 

i58>   J59 
Cross,  Rev.  Jas.  F.,  71,  77,  304 
Curry,  J.L.M.,  LL.D.,  285 


I) 


Dark  Days,  107 

Day,  Charles  P.,  125 

Death-rate  in  Africa,  41,  46,  47 

Deed  of  Trust,  257 

DeForest,  H.  S.,  D.D.,  178,  214 

District  of  Columbia,  16 

District  Secretaries  appointed,  134 

Distrust  and  Prejudice,  107 

Division  into  Departments,  171 


Eells,  Edwin,  68 
Emancipation  Proclamation,  124 
Emerson  Institute,  Mobile,  179 
Emerson,  Miss  D.  E.,  237 
Emerson,  Ralph,  179 
Emerson,  Ralph  Waldo,  20 
Enlargement,  138,  261 
Eskimos,  298 
Eskimos,  Christians,  303 


Fairfax  County  Convention,  7 

Fajardo,  308 

Favorable     Southern     sentiment, 

220,  224 
Fee,  Rev.  John  G.,  97,  104 
Financial  Experiences,  251 
First  Assoc,  chapel,  South,  139 
Fisk,   Gen.  Clinton  B.,  150,  153, 

iS7»  I58>  3i4 
Fisk  University,  150,  156,  274 
Fluctuations  of  Southern  sentiment, 

219 
Foreign  Missions,  34,  62 
Fort  Berthold  Agency,  N.  D.,  69, 

7i 

Fortress  Monroe  and  Ex-Pres. 
Tyler's  house,  121 

Fort  Sumter,  117 

Fort  Yates  Agency,  72 

Fourteenth  and  Fifteenth  Amend- 
ments, 180,  188,  191,  192 

Franklin,  Benjamin,  6 

Freedmen's  Aid  Society,  M.  E. 
Church,  North,  281 

Freedmen  as  African  Mission- 
aries, 47 

Freedmen's  Bureau,  125,  170 

Free  Negroes,  167,  168 

Friends    of    Bible    Missions,    31, 

37 
Fugitive  Slave  Law,  no,  m,  114, 

Fund,  Daniel  Hand,  324 


330 


INDEX 


Garrison,  William  Lloyd,   n,   12, 

17,  18 
Genius    of    Universal    Emancipa- 
tion, n 
Gibbs,  Professor,  27 
Glenn  Bill,  225 
Good  Hope,  Africa,  43,  44 
Grand  River  Station,  71,  77 
Grand  Traverse  Bay,  Mich.,  66 
Grant,  Pres.  U.  S.,  67,  69,  188 
Great  Britain,  134 
Green  Bay  Agency,  Wis.,  69 
Green,  J.  S.,  and  wife,  51,  52 

H 

Hall,  Rev.  C.  L.,  71 
Hamilton,  Alexander,  8 
Hampton  N.  and  A.  Institute,  122, 

128 
Hand,  Daniel,  256,  258,  261,  323 
Hawaii,  295,  309 
Hawaiian  Evangelical  Association, 

3°9 
Haygood,  Rev.   A.  G.,  D.D.,  221, 

224 
Henry,  Patrick,  8 
Hilton  Head,  124 
Holbrook,  J.  C,  D.D.,  134,  171 
Holmes,  Hon.  Samuel,  314 
Holmes,  Rev.  John  Milton,  314 
Home     Department,     West     and 

South,  96,  104 
Horr,  Elijah,  D.D.,  314 
Hostility  in  the  South,  202 
Howard,  Gen.  Charles  H.,  73-77 
Howard,   Gen.   O.   O.,    125,   134, 

171-  3i4 
Hubbard,  Henry  W.,  318 
Hull,  Charles  A.,  314 
Humacao,  308 


Indian  Mission  Meeting  (first),  74 
Indian  Peace  Policy,  67,  69 


Indian  Work,  64,  93 
Industrial  Training,  38,  163 
Infusion  of  white  blood,  168 
"Irrepressible  Conflict,"  3,  99 

J 

Jackson,  Sheldon,  D.D.,  297,  300 
Jackson,  William,  19,  31,  129 
Jamaica  Mission,  30,  53,  55,  134 
Jay,  Judge  William,  19 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  7,  9,  224 
Jocelyn,   Simeon  S.,  27,  212,  213, 

3i3,  316 
Johnson,  J.  R.,  313 
Jowett  and  Johnson,  Mendi  Miss., 

44 
Jubilee  Singers,  156,  157 
Just  —  "  The     just  shall   live   by 

faith,"  311 

K 

Kaw-Mendi,  38,  41,  42,  44 
Ketchum,  Edgar,  318 
Kinna  (Amistad  Captive),  42 
Kinson,  Miss  Sara  (Mar-Gru),  42 
Kirk,  E.  N.,  D.D.,  131,  133 
Ku  Klux  Klan,  202,  232 


Lake  Superior  Agency,  Wis.,  69 

Lares,  307 

Leavitt,  Joshua,  16,  19,  211 

Le  Moyne  Institute,  Memphis,  160 

Liberator,  The,  12 

"Little  Scotland,"  127 

Lockwood,  L.  C,  121 

Lopp,  Mr.,  297,  302 

Ludlow,  Miss  Helen,  123 

Lundy,  Benjamin,  the  Quaker,  11 

Lyman,  A.  J.,  D.D.,  314 

M 

Madison,  James,  8 
Mann,  Horace,  113 


331 


INDEX 


Manual  labor,  39,  41 

May,  Samuel  J.,  16 

Mead,  Charles  L.,  314 

Memphis,  Tennessee  Church,   139 

Mendi  Mission,  30,  38,  48 

Miller,  Kelly,  283 

Missionary    Boards    and    Slavery, 

108 
Missionary,  The  American,  319 
Mission  Indians,  Cal.,  69 
Missouri  and  Maine,  10 
Missouri  Compromise,  131 
Mob    expulsion    of    Missionaries, 

103 
Morris,  Luzon  B.,  256 
Mo-Tappan,  43,  44 
Mountain  Work,  238,  241 


N 


National  Council  (1865),  133 
New  England  Colonies,  3,  4,  13 
New  Fields  and  Old,  237 
North  American  Indians,  64,  93 
North    and    South,   3,    4,    5,    10, 

Northern     Capital     in     Southern 

Mountains,  241 
Northern  Philanthropy,  283 
Northwest  Territory,  7 
Number  of  Missionary   Workers, 

231 

O 

Oahe,  S.  D.,  70,  71 

Ogden,  Prof.  John,  151 

Oglethorpe  and  Georgia,  5 

Organization,  31 

Organization  of  Churches,  199 

Ostracism,  169 

Our  Brother  in  Black,  221,  224 


Park,  W.  E.,  D.D.,  124 
Patton.  C.  A.,  269 


Patton,   W.   W.,   D.D.,    134,  171, 

316 
Peace    Policy   (Gen.    Grant),    67, 

69 
Peake,  Mrs.  Mary,  121 
Pennington,  J.  W.  C,  313 
Phelps,  Amos  A.,  313 
Phillips,  Wendell,  112 
Piedmont  College,  276 
Pike,  Rev.  G.  D.,  245 
Pillow,  William  H.,  313 
Point  Barrow,  302 
Policy  and  Development,  145 
Porto  Rico,  295,  305 
Powell,  James,  D.D.,  246,  316 
Pratt,  Lewellyn,  D.D.,  314 
Presbyterian  Church,  North,  281 
Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  281 


Ray,  Charles  B.,  313 

Raymond,  Rev.  R.,  and  wife,  38, 

40,  41 
Red  Lake  Station,  Minn.,  65 
Reed,  George  W.,  72,  77 
Relief  Societies,  170 
Richards,  Chas.  H.,  D.D.,  264 
Richardson,  Rev.  W.  T.,  68 
Riggs,    A.  L.,  D.D.,  70,  81 
Riggs,  T.  L.,  LL.D.,   70,  73,  77, 

78,  81,  93 
Riggs,  Stephen  R.,  74 
Riot  in  Memphis,  139 
Rogers,  Rev.  J.  A.  R.,  101,  104 
Rosebud  Agency,  71,  77 
Root,  Barnabas,  45 
Roy,  Joseph  E.,  D.D.,  319 
Ryder,  C.   J.,  D.D.,  317 


Sandwich    Islands     Mission,    51, 

52 
Santee,  Neb.,  70,  71,  81 
Santurce,  307 
Savannah,  Ga.,  138 


332 


INDEX 


Schools     following     the     Armies, 

121 
S(  hurz,  Carl,  190,  192 
Seven     Years     out     of     Slavery, 

193 
Sherbro  Island,  Africa,  43 
Shipherd,  Rev.  J.  R.,  134,  316 
Siam  Mission,  55,  60 
Sierra  Leone,  39,  48 
Sims,  Thomas,  111 
Sioux  Reservation,  70,  71 
Sisseton  Agency,  Dak.,  69 
"Sitting  Bull,"  77 
Skokomish  Agency,  Wash.,  69 
Slater  Fund,  221 
Slavery  —  introduction,    decrease, 

abolition,  4,  6 
Smith,  Gerrit,  19 
Smith,  Rev.  E.  P.,  68,  134,  205 
Social  Study  of  the  Negro  Church, 

289 
Society  of  Friends,  282 
Southern  solution  of  Negro  prob- 
lem, 203 
Spence,  Prof.  A.  K.,  160 
Spirit  of  the  Association,  109 
"Spotted  Bear,"  74,  77 
Standing    Rock   Agency,    72,    77, 

78 
State  Normal   Industrial   College, 

N.  C,  278 
Statement  of  Principles,  37,   109, 

146,  150,  155,  204,  226,  230 
Statistics,    188,     193,     231,     243, 

245 
Stone,  Mrs.  Daniel,  Gift  of,  202 
Storrs,  Richard  Salter,  D.D.,  20 
Storrs'  School,  Atlanta,  Ga.,  141, 

!59 
Straight,  Seymour,  182 
Straight  University,  159,  181,  185, 

275 
Strieby,  M.  E.,  D.D.,  129,  229,  267, 

316 
Suppression   of   Negro   franchise, 

191 
Survey  and  Outlook,  272 


Talladega  College,  Ala.,  38,  159, 

172,  179,   274 
Tappan,  Arthur,  11,  16,  19,  30,  32, 

i35»  138,  3*3,  3i8 
Tappan,  Lewis,   11,    16,   31,   210, 

212 
Theological  Departments,  244 
Thompson,  Rev.  George,  41,  42, 

44 
Thornton,  Mr.,  297,  301 
Thurston,  Rev.  David,  130 
Tillotson  College,  275 
Tougaloo     University,     160,    185, 

274 
Transfer  of  African  Missions,  48, 

69 
Transfer  of  Indian  Missions,  69 
Transfer    of     Jamaica    Missions, 

55 
Transitional  Phases,  254 
Tremont  Temple  Meeting,  113 
Two  Civilizations,  226 
Type  of  higher  education,  162 

U 

Union  Commission,  170 
Union  Missionary  Society,  30 
United  Brethren,  48 


Violence,  99,  100,  102 
Virginia  Colonies,  3,  4 

W 

Ward,  William  H.,  D.D.,  314 
Ware,  Rev.  E.  A.,  246 
Warner,  L.  C,  LL.D.,  314 
Washington,  George,  8 
Webster,  Daniel,  111 
Weed,  Edward,  313 
Welcome  and  Unwelcome,  217 
Western  Evangelical  Society,  32 


333 


INDEX 


West  Indian  Missions,  30,  53,  55 
Whipple,   George,    D.D.,   31,   37, 

113,  128,  207,  210,  268,  316 
White,  Prof.  Geo.  L.,  156 
Whiting,  William  E.,  313 
Whittier,  John  G.,  16,  19 
Williamsburg,  Ky.,  238 
Williams,  Talcott,  LL.D.,  288 
Wilmington,  N.  C,  138,  160 
Winnepeg  Lake,  Minn.,  66 


Women     Teachers,     Tribute     to, 

234 
Woodbury,  Frank  P.,  D.D.,  317 
Woodworth,  C.  L.,  D.D.,  134 
Wright,  Elizur,  16 
Wright,  Theodore  S.,  313 


"Yellow  Hawk,"  73,  77 


334 


Pnncelon  Theological  Seminary-Speer 


1    1012  01095  8579 


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